Spider's Web
by mml94
Summary: Life changes at a lightning pace. You can find yourself in danger in the blink of an eye. When you're unsuspectingly dropped in the middle of a Spider's Web and you find yourself with a new life, how long can you stay caught between your past and future?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Alex Rider Series**

* * *

The Para soldier lay in full uniform with his binoculars pressed to his eyes, scoping out the small farmhouse. He'd waited so long for this. Five years of climbing the military ranks and now he was getting his call up for the SAS. All he had to do was complete this mission and he was in. In for good.

He'd be making more money for his wife and new born daughter, Heather. That was important to him. He'd grown up in the rough streets of Glasgow, in a council house. His father hadn't a pot to piss in. He got the dole but he spent it on drink and smokes. His mother, God love her, worked in a factory five mornings a week and looked after the family. He was one of the only Para's who knew what it was like to be hungry as a child.

He saw no movement in the house.

"Bravo two, this is Tango one, in position and ready to roll" he radioed in using his throat mic.

"Tango one, this is Bravo two. Go on ahead, we'll cover you" came the reply in his ear piece.

He desperately wanted to be promoted to Bravo. Bravo was the radio rank of the SAS and after tonight, he'd be one.

He moved forward stealthily, making his approach as silent as possible. As he crept up the garden, scoping the ground before him with his night vision lenses, an uneasy feeling set into his gut. As though he was being watched. He pushed it away and looked up at the house, checking each window. The last sight he ever saw was a bang of light from one of the upper floors. He didn't feel any pain, he was dead before he hit the ground.

Shots exploded from the hills surrounding the house. Glass panes smashed and live fire embedded itself in the wooden doors. There were muffled shouts and calls from inside. The unit of SAS moved down toward the house quickly, throwing caution to the wind. Shots were fired on them and two of them fell. The others were forced to take cover behind an old ramshackle shed and by the time they could get up, the occupants of the farmhouse had fled.

Wolf burst through the door angry that such a cock up had happened on **his **mission. He thumped upstairs and looked around angrily.There were whimpering noises coming from the bedroom he went into.

He took a deep, calming breath and looked around, trying to locate the source of them. He crouched down and peeked under the bed. Large, dark brown eyes stared out at him.

Wolf reached out hand. It was the only thing he could think of doing short of lifting the bed up and pulling the boy out from under it.

Small fingers grasped Wolf's hand and he carefully helped the boy to his feet, taking in his appearance and making a note of it. He had blond hair that hung over his eyes, large brown eyes and scratched, dirty cheeks. They were chubby, as most children's' cheeks are, and gave him the adorable look that all children have. He was a short fellow dressed in a light brown pair of shorts and a white t-shirt with no shoes or socks. Wolf gave him a confused look. What was he supposed to do now?

"Do you have a name?" asked Wolf helplessly.

The boy stared at him, confused.

He babbled unintelligently and Wolf frowned. This boy wasn't speaking English anyway.

Fox and Snake entered the room and stared from Wolf to the boy and back.

"Who the fuck is that?" asked Snake bluntly.

"He was hiding under the bed" replied Wolf, not taking his eyes off the boy.

"Who is he?" asked Fox, staring at the boy.

"He's not speaking English. I really don't know" informed Wolf, tearing his gaze from the boy and training it on Fox.

"Well, get him to talk" ordered Fox.

Wolf scoffed. "How am I supposed to do that?" he asked.

"Ask him a question" suggested Snake.

"I have a question for you two and all. Where's Eagle?" asked Wolf.

"Downstairs keeping watch in case any of them try and come back" informed Snake.

Wolf turned back to the boy.

"Who are you?" he asked slowly.

The boy retorted quickly in a soft tone making sounds Wolf didn't understand.

"French! Wolf, he's speaking French!" exclaimed Fox.

Wolf shot him a skeptical look.

"Do either of you speak French?" he asked.

"A little" muttered Fox, blushing.

"Why would you know French?" asked Snake.

"Who cares? Can you understand him?" asked Wolf.

"I get the jist of it. He says he wants his father" said Fox.

"Who is he? Ask him that. Does he speak English?" asked Wolf.

Fox used his basic French to convey the question.

The boy nodded, eyes wide and scared.

"Who are you?" asked Wolf.

The boy murmured something in French and sobbed heart wrenchingly.

"He says the man told him to speak French or he'd get clattered" translated Fox, forehead wrinkled in concentration.

"Tell him no one's going to hurt him now. Tell him I'll protect him" said Wolf.

"What am I, a translator for fucking Amnesty International? How am I supposed to say that?" snapped Fox.

Wolf shrugged.

The boy nodded and coughed once.

"Will you really protect me?" he asked hoarsely.

Wolf crouched down.

"Of course I will" he answered.

"I'm Alex. Alex Rider" whispered the boy, holding out his hand.

Wolf shook it.

"I'm Jamie. Jamie Byrne" he told Alex.

Alex smiled slightly.

"Are you the only boy who was here?" asked Wolf.

Alex shook his head and a tear rolled down his nose and splashed on the floor.

"My Jamie gone" he said quietly.

Wolf frowned and Fox gasped.

"Wolf, it's the Rider kid! John Rider's son! Even you must remember the sergeant who briefed us. Told us to keep an eye out for the Rider boys" said Fox urgently. Wolf thought back and frowned.

He remembered. The mother and father had been blown up. Well, their plane had. The kid, along with his older brother, had been snatched from his nanny by a terrorist organization, one that made Scorpia look like children. Stiletto, a society only a few World Leader's knew about. MI6 had a special branch that tried to keep an eye on it but Stiletto was impenetrable. No one had ever captured an agent, no one had ever talked to one. Yassen Gregorovich was suspected to have worked for them at least twice but that was as close as anyone ever got to discovering one of them. A possible suspect.

"Yeah, I remember now. Look, let's get going. If we hurry, we'll be back in London tonight and we can give him up" said Wolf quietly.

Fox nodded and looked seriously at the other two.

"Who's carrying him?" he asked.

Wolf snorted.

"I will, wise-ass! Come on" he said.

He reached down and scooped Alex up into his arms, gently carrying him.

Fox and Snake exchanged a snicker then followed.

* * *

"You left the fucking wee one behind!" snapped Gavin Brown. 

"How was I supposed to know he was under the fucking bed!?" swore his brother, Charlie.

"You were outsmarted by a four year old! Gregorovich managed to hold off the SAS and take the other boy" pointed out Brown, checking his temper.

"I'm not fucking Gregorovich, am I!? I'm your fucking brother! I told you taking two weens was a bad fucking idea but did you listen to me? Och no, you went ahead with it you stupid fucker!" snapped Charlie.

Yassen Gregorovich looked at the two men he'd been forced to work with on his last mission. Complete idiots.

"Let me remind you, Gentlemen, that a child is present" he chided softly.

Both men looked down at the six year old as if just reminded of his presence.

"Get him out of here Yassen. Please. Just act as ward for the night or something" said Gavin softly.

Yassen tilted his head.

"The director will not be pleased we lost Alex. It is a shame" said Yassen.

Both brothers nodded in agreement.

"I will bring Jamie up to my rooms and set up the spare bed for the next few days. You two will go to Barcelona tomorrow and alert the director of the outcome. I will follow you out when I get his call. I'll bring the boy with me" he said seriously.

The brothers agreed and Yassen put his hand on Jamie's shoulder and propelled him from the room, careful to be firm but not cruel.

"Who are you?" asked Jamie, attempting to turn around.

Yassen gently kept Jamie's head facing forward.

"I am a friend of your father's" he said quietly.

Jamie stopped in his tracks and tried to turn around.

Yassen kept him facing for wards and moved Jamie again, keeping him walking.

"What's your name?" asked Jamie.

"That is none of your business James" said Yassen, stopping at the doors of an elevator and calling it.

"It's Jamie. How do you know who I am?" asked Jamie.

"Your father spoke of you often but that is neither here nor there" informed Yassen.

The doors slid open and Yassen led Jamie into the lift, pressing the button for the twelfth floor. The lift went up and Yassen stood in silence, watching Jamie. Jamie looked at him and frowned.

"You're not one of dad's mates" he said.

"And why do you think that?" asked Yassen, intrigued.

"Because if you were, you'd be a lot nicer" noted Jamie.

Yassen smiled slightly.

"Plus, you're not from England and dad doesn't know any foreigners, he works in a bank" said Jamie surely.

Yassen frowned. So the boy didn't know the truth? Well, he wasn't going to be the one to tell him.

The lift doors slid open again to reveal a long corridor. Yassen used a key to open the second door on the left and led Jamie inside.

Jamie ran in and immediately started bouncing on the bed, forgetting himself completely.

Yassen frowned slightly, irritated.

Jamie jumped from the bed with more grace than your average six year old and stared at Yassen.

Yassen marveled at how much the boy resembled John. He had fair hair that hung in his eyes. It was dirty and had clots of soil in it from being pressed to the ground with Yassen on top of him when leaving the house. He had large, soft blue eyes that reminded Yassen starkly of John and the boy had lost the chubby cheeks his four year old brother had. He had all his baby teeth, polished to a pearly white and his skin was mildly tanned, hinting of a holiday.

"You need a bath" Yassen said honestly. It was the only thing he could think of to say that didn't involve him being maternal. Even then, it was a slightly maternal comment to make.

"Your not my mum!" protested Jamie stubbornly.

"True, but you are filthy. Now, in there is a bath and a shower with shower gel and shampoo. You can have a bath or shower, whichever you prefer" said Yassen, gesturing toward his bathroom.

Jamie stared at him as though he had two heads.

"What?" asked Yassen snappily.

"Mum always runs my bath for me" conceded Jamie, blushing and staring at his feet.

Yassen sighed.

"Wait here" he ordered.

He strolled from the room, the door locking automatically. He hurried along the corridor to the store closet. He took some bubble bath (meant for female agents), a sponge, a towel and the smallest bathrobe he could find.

He hurried back to his room and opened the door only to find Jamie with one leg out the window, ready to jump.

Yassen dropped the things he'd collected and rushed over, grabbing the boy.

He cursed himself in his head. This was a child! Granted, an extremely intelligent one, but a child none the less. He'd have to be more careful from now on.

He pushed Jamie onto the large bed and frowned at the boy.

Jamie had a guilty, caught-red-handed look on his face.

Yassen loomed over the boy like a thunder cloud.

Jamie blinked twice and stared determinedly up at Yassen.

"Where's Alex?" he asked abruptly.

Yassen frowned. That was a very sudden question to ask. One Yassen wasn't prepared or able to answer.

"Where's Alex?" repeated Jamie.

Yassen looked at the boy, curious about what was going to happen.

"Where's Alex?" said Jamie, his voice rising slightly.

Yassen was slightly amused. What did the boy expect to accomplish by this?

"WHERE'S MY BROTHER!?" yelled Jamie at the top of his lungs.

Yassen nearly smiled. He just about restrained himself from chuckling.

Jamie jumped to his feet and ran for the door but Yassen grabbed him and lifted him off the ground.

Jamie kicked out at Yassen and his kick glanced off Yassen's stomach.

Yassen scowled and carried Jamie back over to the bed, dropping him on it.

Jamie started to get back up until Yassen shot him a look that would have made an axe murderer sit still and quiet on the bed, never mind a six year old.

"Stay right there. I'll get the bath ready for you and then, when you've finished, I'll get you something to eat" Yassen said quietly in a dangerous tone.

Jamie nodded with an unsure and Yassen turned around to go into the bathroom. He left the door open as he adjusted the taps till the bath was full of warm, but not too warm, water. He then poured the entire bottle of bubble bath in and walked back into the bedroom.

Jamie stared at him angrily, his eyes glinting and Yassen began to feel an uncontrollable urge to laugh.

"What?" he asked quietly, keeping his amusement from his voice.

"You're stupid. What's the point of taking a bath if I'm not going to change into clean clothes afterward?" said Jamie superiorly.

Yassen's jaw clenched and he frowned.

"I will get you some clean clothes. I would most likely have them by now if you hadn't decided you wanted to jump out a window" replied Yassen.

Jamie shrugged and drew a deep breath

"Well, if you got snatched in the middle of the night with your kid brother and taken to another country and to a strange house where you could hear you brother crying but not be allowed go to him and then got caught in a gunfight and be dragged out of the house when you're tired and grumpy and then be sat on by a man who weighs a ton and then brought on a plane and taken to a weird hotel place by a man who sat on you and **still **hasn't apologized and seen two big men arguing and cursing and ignoring you and the heavy man who sat on you brings you upstairs and demands you take a bath even though you had one two days ago and you wouldn't be so dirty if he hadn't sat on you then I think you'd try and escape too, don't you?" he said, surprising Yassen with the amount of air that he held in his child sized lungs.

Jamie collapsed back onto the bed and Yassen frowned. Was that really what had happened? The boy made it sound so, so traumatic. Yassen did the only thing he could think of doing.

He met the blue eyes of the boy and said as sincerely as he knew how "I'm sorry for sitting on you".

The boy smiled and nodded.

"You should be. You should think of going on a diet or something" said the six year old, clearly unaware that such a comment would have offended anyone but Yassen.

"Go on then, into the bath. And stay there. I'll go and find clothes" ordered Yassen.

He stood, arms folded, watching to make sure Jamie did as he was told. When Yassen was sure Jamie had gotten into the bath, he turned and walked from the room, the door once again locking automatically and strolled down the stairs to the help desk.

A young woman sat behind the desk, a bored expression on her face. As soon as she saw Yassen, she smiled and looked him up and down approvingly.

"Yassen. I had heard you were back" she said, smiling at him.

Yassen leaned slightly on the counter and tilted his head to one side.

"It's true. Tell me, Ms. Rhyes, have you got any clothes for a boy?" he asked.

Ms. Rhyes smiled at him.

"Ms. Rhyes isn't my name Yassen. It's Caroline" she said, grinning.

Yassen was bored.

"Well, do you have any clothes that would do a boy?" he asked.

Caroline shrugged.

"Why?" she asked.

Yassen frowned.

"I need them for the boy" Yassen said.

Caroline smiled.

"The Rider? Which one?" she asked, smiling.

"Not important. Do you have clothes or not?" said Yassen, forehead wrinkling slightly in an annoyed way.

Caroline smiled.

"Of course I do. I'll send them up and they'll be there in say, fifteen minutes?".

Yassen nodded and spun on his heel, striding effortlessly back up the stairs and unlocking his room. There were wet footprints all over the carpet, the blanket was lying on the floor in a mess and Jamie was nowhere to be found.

Yassen rushed from the room and was heading for the stairs when he heard a shriek coming from the canteen. It had purposefully been built on the second floor so it faced outward at the back of the building. Yassen jogged in and flung the door open and stood in the doorway, dumbstruck by what he saw. That buffoon Nile was there and he had slung the boy over his shoulder and proceeded with spinning around. The boy was laughing loudly, screaming almost. Yassen coughed and Nile stopped, turning slowly to face Yassen.

"Hi!" he said brightly, clearly quite pleased with himself.

"What are you doing with my ward?" asked Yassen quietly.

Nile put Jamie down and gently pushed the boy behind his back in a somewhat protective gesture.

Jamie poked his head round and grinned at Yassen.

"Well...

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**Left you a bit of a cliffhanger, didn't I? Go on, leave a review, you know you want to!!!!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Alex Rider series.**

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Wolf glanced over at the small boy sitting opposite.

Alex was shivering violently and the tips of his ears and nose were red but he seemed happy, staring around the helicopter with a large grin.

Wolf pulled the beanie off his head and offered it to Alex. He took it, beaming, and shoved it on his head. He'd already gotten into the Camouflage cream and had smeared it over his face and on his nose. He grinned at Wolf and Wolf nodded back.

"So kid, let's go over it again. You were brought to that house in the boot of a car, after being smuggled into a port separate from your brother. You were in the car a long time and when it stopped for five minutes to get you air, you were brought away from the road and given a drink of water. Then you were bundled back into the boot. A few hours later you were let out of the boot and brought into the house, locked in a bedroom by yourself. Between then and the gunfight you were given different clothes and your shoes and socks were taken. That's about it?" said Wolf, coughing slightly.

Alex shook his head.

"The water. It tasted funny. But Mummy told me never to be rude and spit out a drink you're given so I waited with it in my mouth. I thought I'd be able to spit it out but the man, he grabbed my cheeks in one hand and made my neck long. He told me to swallow and I shook my head and spat it out. He got more water from the other man and he pulled me down onto the ground. He grabbed me and he was under me and kept my arms against me. I kicked him and he told me if I did it again he'd break my legs. He pushed the cup up to my mouth and made sure I took some in my mouth. Then he grabbed me round the neck and made sure I swallowed. He pulled me back up to my feet and took me back to the car. I don't remember after that, I fell asleep or something" said Alex, kicking his legs off each other.

Wolf frowned. The kid had definitely been drugged.

"What did he look like?" asked Wolf quietly.

Alex looked up at him, cocking his head.

"Who, the man? He wasn't that tall, barely as big as daddy, maybe a bit shorter. He had dark blond hair and bright blue eyes and he had a few tattoos" Alex said cheerfully.

Wolf frowned again.

"Tattoos of what?" he asked.

Alex scrunched up his face as if trying to remember a long forgotten name.

"There was a rose on one shoulder and a cross on the other" said Alex.

Fox entered and sat beside Alex, smiling at the boy.

"Hey shorty. We're nearly back now. You go on up to the cockpit so I can talk with Wolf, 'kay?" he said.

Alex grinned and nodded his head, tottering off up the main passage of the helicopter.

"How's it looking?" asked Fox, watching Alex leave protectively.

"Not good. Kid was doped. Something to put him to sleep I'm guessing. Caught a glimpse of the guy who did it. Medium height, dark blond hair and bright blue eyes. Had tattoos. A rose and a crucifix" Wolf informed him.

Fox frowned.

"Someone doped a kid? A four year old? Wolf, have you managed to get in touch with 5 or 6 yet?" he asked, worried.

Wolf shook his head. He'd never been faced with this kind of situation. How often in a lifetime could this arise? Once in a blue moon maybe. Wolf ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

"Look, this is a military helicopter. The techie on board is sure to have something that we can use to identify this guy" said Fox quietly.

Wolf nodded. "Good, you get working on that. In the meantime, I'll be here worrying" he said. Fox smiled and got to his feet, making his way further down the massive helicopter and out of Wolf's view.

Wolf sat back, pinching the bridge of his nose. Alex was definitely a special kid. He had brilliant speech for a four year old and he was incredibly calm despite all that had happened to him. The kind of kid Wolf wouldn't find totally unbearable. The kind of kid he might even tolerate.

"Wolf, come here a sec!" called Fox from further down. Wolf was on his feet and moving towards where Fox's voice had come from. Fox sat on a stool, a laptop balanced on his lap, tapping at keys.

"What tattoos did you say that lad had?" he asked.

"A rose and a crucifix" informed Wolf.

Fox tapped away and a moment later frowned.

"They could be Russian tattoos mate. The rose means the wearer 'celebrated a teenage birthday in the clink' and the crucifix means 'Prince of Thieves', the highest rank. Our boy must have been big in Russia anyway. I'll check what known cons have those tattoos" said Fox, clicking a few more keys.

"One match we know of. No photo available with this low security clearance, just a description from a kid. Saw this guy gun down his dad. The guy saw the kid, winked at him but didn't shoot him. Kid described him much like Alex did. There's a name. Some tout got his name to 6. Four hours later the stool was found dead on the steps of a building, shot in the face. The name was Daniil Federov...

* * *

_Jamie poked his head round and grinned at Yassen_

"Well...Nile gave me some clothes" he said, smiling at Yassen, dimples being displayed in his cheeks.

"I can see that" replied Yassen dryly.

"He came looking for you and I answered the door. He asked who I was and I told him I was bored so he said we could play chasing. So we did. Sorry if your room's messy but I had to run over your bed and Nile jumped on me. So I ran down here. Did you know they have twelve types of cheese here?" said Jamie, tugging on the forelock of his wet hair.

"Yes, I did. Nile, you just happened to be passing my rooms with clothes Jamie's size?" said Yassen, one eyebrow raised.

Nile shrugged, annoyance flickering across his face.

"Not exactly. I saw you bringing him in. I have an eye for size. Figured the kid was going to need as much help as possible if you're looking after him" he said coldly.

Yassen blinked. Who was Nile to tell him he wasn't capable of looking after a child?

"What's that supposed to mean?" Yassen replied equally coldly.

"It means you're a cold bastard and I'd no more trust you with a child than I would trust Fidel Castro with a Cuban cigar" Nile said quietly.

Jamie gasped and stared up at Nile. Yassen placed a hand firmly on Jamie's shoulder and was about to steer him from the canteen when Jamie looked up at him.

"Can't I say goodbye to Nile? Please?" he pleaded. Nile's mouth twitched in amusement as he watched the situation keenly to see what Yassen did.

"No Jamie. Come on" Yassen said quietly. Jamie blinked and stared up at Yassen.

"Please? I promise I'll do anything you want! I won't try anything, I swear! Just please let me say goodbye" said Jamie, lower lip quivering.

Yassen considered. On the one hand, not having to force the boy to do anything would makes thinks easier on him. On the other, he could just as easily force him to co-operate. But that might cause the boy distress and Yassen would never, ever intentionally cause either of John's boys anything. Unless it was the lesser of two evils. And now, he had a chance to make sure he wouldn't have to hurt John's eldest in the foreseeable future. But then again, he really hated Nile.

"Fine, you can say goodbye. But if you break your word, you'll be punished. Now, hurry up" he said quietly.

Jamie beamed and ran over to Nile who swept him up off the floor.

"I'll see you soon shorty" Nile said, ruffling Jamie's wet hair.

Jamie grinned.

He gave Nile a very quick hug then Nile put him down and he hurried back over to Yassen. Yassen felt the tiniest stab of jealousy. Why was it that he, who'd been John's student, had to co-erce and bribe John's son while Nile, who hadn't even known John, could just strike up a friendship with the boy? Was it because Yassen had taken Jamie? Or was it something stronger?

Yassen propelled Jamie back to his room and locked the door. Jamie jumped on the bed and lay still, his back to Yassen. Yassen sat down at his desk and opened the Japanese Workbook he had left on the desk last time he'd stayed there. Stiletto was very much to Yassen's liking. They paid well, covered all his expenses, gave him endless supplies of guns and gadgets and ammo and looked after each of their agents in a way no other organization did. Yassen was still tied to SCORPIA but these days, he was more involved with Stiletto. None of the secret services knew anything about it and that helped greatly. Yassen looked over at the boy and noticed he was abnormally still for a six year old.

"Jamie, are you alright?" he asked quietly.

"M'fine" mumbled Jamie sniffily.

Yassen frowned and silently made his way over to where the boy lay. He towered over Jamie, un-noticed, and saw the tears rolling down the six year old's nose. Tears. There were two things John hadn't trained him how to handle. Tears and children. This was a bit of both.

"What's wrong?" asked Yassen carefully.

Jamie looked up at him, pure misery in his eyes.

"What is it?" asked Yassen.

Jamie whimpered and tears leaked from his eyes. He hastily brushed them away.

Yassen felt a twang on his heartstrings which he hastily silenced. He wasn't going to become one of the maternal men he so greatly despised.

Jamie looked up at him and blinked, tears welling in his eyes.

"Let me go home" he pleaded.

Yassen frowned. How could explain things to the child that he might never fully understand?

"Please. Please. Just let me go home" begged Jamie heart-wrenchingly.

Yassen shifted his weight from one foot to the other. This child made him uneasy. And not in the bad way. He could feel a strange connection between himself and the boy. He wanted to look after him and protect him, almost as though the boy was his younger brother. In a way, he was. John had been the only father figure Yassen ever had.

Yassen sat down at the end of the bed and Jamie sat up to look at him.

"I'm sorry Jamie, I can't do that. But I promise, you won't suffer. I'll make sure of it" he said carefully.

Jamie frowned.

"I want my mum. I want my dad. I want Alex. I want Uncle Ian. I want Ash. I want home" he said slowly.

Yassen stared into the blue eyes watching him astutely.

"I can't give you home. I can't leave you home. You won't get back there for a while, if at all. You just have to be like-like a turtle and keep your home with you. Only yours is inside you" Yassen said, as soothingly as possible.

"Why am I here? Why did you take me?" asked Jamie, crawling over towards Yassen.

Yassen turned to face him and shook his head.

"I can't talk to you about that Jamie but I promise I'll look after you, alright?" Yassen said, trying and failing to keep the tender note from his voice.

Jamie was about to say something when there was a knock on the door. Yassen got to his feet frowning and opened the door. He smiled, a rare thing for him to do, at the man standing before him as he was enveloped in a quick hug.

"It's good to see you" commented Yassen.

"You too. That was some cock-up with the small one. I knew I shouldn't have given him over to those idiotic Fife brothers" said the other man, sighing loudly.

Yassen smiled and gestured for the man to step back. He did and Yassen stepped out of his room, closing the door gently behind him.

"Hmmm, brother's really don't tend to work well together, do they?" he said softly.

"But childhood friend's do?" teased the other man.

Yassen smiled again and then straightened his face.

"From what I heard you got Alex up there anyway. You're lucky your hand in the operation went well. You're out of the cross hairs. For now anyway" Yassen commented.

The other man nodded seriously.

"The boy had guts, I'll give him that. Tried to trick me by spitting out the sedative. I had to force him to take it" said the man.

Yassen shrugged.

"The eldest is in my room right now. Nice kid" he said, eyes studying closely the face of the other man.

Daniil Federov. Yassen had grown up with him on the streets, they'd worked minor jobs together and then Daniil had been sentenced for a job he and Yassen pulled. Daniil was a good man, he'd never said a word about Yassen, something Yassen appreciated. During Daniil's sentence, Yassen had left to work for SCORPIA. Daniil had been in and out of Russian prisons up until two years ago when he'd got work with Stiletto, permanant work. He and Yassen had been on assignments together a few times since. Daniil was as close to Yassen as a brother. Maybe closer. Yassen knew some women found Daniil irresistible, beautiful even, but Daniil was never one to blow his own trumpet. He had seen to much to love anyone. Of course, that didn't stop him from bedding as many women as possible. Daniil **looked **Slavic. There was no other way to describe it. He had a naturally pale complexion and bright blue eyes, contrasting with his blond hair.

Daniil grinned.

"Jamie, isn't it?" he asked.

Yassen nodded, opening the door slightly and gesturing with his hands for Daniil to follow him. Yassen stuck his head in the door and said very quietly

"Jamie, there's somebody who wants to meet you...

* * *

Had to think hard about that chappie so you should appreciate it... :-)


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own nothing whatsoever that is reletive to the Alex Rider series, Santa couldn't fit the book rights in his sleigh for me.**

**I do have a few excuses about this chapter and I'll make them now.**

**1) I have had the worst writer's block in the world since my last update and I am in copious amounts of trouble in school at the moment so I've been a bit distracted.**

**2) This chapter is more a filler to knit the two different sub stories together.**

**3) Yes, I do write Yassen emotional at times because, hey let's face it, he is human. I also think it's important to show that he's hurt by Jamie's lack of trust for him.**

**4) I don't particularly like this chapter because it was planned out as a filler and I think it's overly long.**

**Also, on another note, I now know exactly how this story will finish...

* * *

**

Wolf looked out the glass panel of the sturdy door at Alex who sat outside kicking his legs to and fro.

"The kid'll be fine. Besides, you want this info, don't you?" the techie Wolf was working with asked.

Wolf grunted a reply and the techie grinned.

"Okay. Your boy is Daniil Federov. Russian. Has previous for B&E, GBH, Two counts of Murder of the first degree, four counts of political terrorism and three counts of kidnap. Your boy's got quite a rep sheet, huh? Here's a picture" said the techie, printing of a sheet of paper and handing it to Wolf.

Wolf studied it closely, committing the face to memory. The almond shaped, bright blue eyes and dark blond hair. The serious face. The high, Slavic cheekbones.

"You want a copy of that photo?" asked the techie, breaking Wolf out of his thoughts.

Wolf grunted an affirmative. He looked again at the picture in his hands and frowned. This man had doped a four year old. What kind of man doped a four year old?

"Where're you going to leave the kid?" asked the techie, jerking his thumb in the general direction of the door.

Wolf frowned.

"I have a meeting with Blunt" he said quietly.

The techie smiled.

"Nervous? I know I 'd be. If you want, you can leave the kid here" the techie offered.

Wolf nodded, thinking to himself. He couldn't bring Alex up to Blunt's office. That was a ridiculous idea.

He stared at the techie. He seemed like a nice enough guy. Honest face at least.

"Yeah, thanks. Look, don't let that kid out of your sight. I mean it" Wolf said threateningly. The techie nodded. He smiled and licked his lips.

"Wouldn't dream of it" he said lightly.

Wolf nodded and walked from the room. As soon as he opened the door Alex got to his feet, grinning.

"Where are we going?" he asked brightly.

"I'm going upstairs. You're going to wait inside that room, sitting quietly, not touching anything" Wolf informed.

Alex looked slightly down hearted but perked up a bit when he saw the inside of the room. It was packed full of computers that beeped and hummed. Alex bounded in and grinned at the techie.

"What're we doing?" he asked brightly.

The techie looked out the door, making sure that Wolf was gone, and then smiled at Alex.

"We're going for a little walk" the techie said, grinning.

Alex grinned back.

"Where? Can we go to the park?" he asked, beaming.

The techie opened a drawer and pulled out a hypodermic needle. Alex shivered at the sight but kept smiling, blissfully unaware that it was for him.

The techie got to his feet and walked round, crouching in front of Alex.

"Why don't you take a little nap?" he said, softly.

Alex frowned.

"I'm not tired!" he protested.

The techie sneered and Alex stared at him in dismay.

"You soon will be" the techie said quietly.

Alex watched in horror as the techie jammed the needle into his neck and injected its contents. Alex swayed slightly on the spot then closed his eyes and fell to the floor. The techie smirked as he scooped up Alex.

"Sweet dreams kiddo" he said sarcastically, chuckling at his own wit.

Alex let out a small sleepy sigh and the techie made his way from the room...

* * *

_"Jamie, there's somebody who wants to meet you..._

Yassen led Daniil into the room and Jamie stared up at them, eyes slightly puffy. He grinned a tiny, tiny smile.

Daniil nodded slightly.

"Jamie?" he asked calmly.

Jamie nodded sullenly, a tearful look on his face.

Daniil made his way across the room and hopped onto the bed, sitting beside Jamie.

"No need to look so grumpy" he said teasingly.

Jamie frowned.

"Yes there is" he replied. Daniil grinned.

"There's a good reason for the fact that you're locked up in here with Yassen, is there?" replied Daniil.

Jamie shrugged and got to his feet, making his way over to the window.

Daniil walked over to Yassen, smiling.

"Why don't you take him outside? He's a child, let him play" Daniil said quietly.

Yassen looked doubtfully over at Jamie and shook his head.

"Why not?" Daniil asked in a low voice.

Yassen shrugged.

Daniil frowned.

"Can I take him down to the pool then? If I'm quick" Daniil said softly, his eyes locking with Yassen's.

Yassen considered this idea. He did have flights to sort out and phone calls to make for passports.

He nodded shortly and Daniil grinned.

"I knew you'd crack" he said, turning away and walking over to where Jamie stood.

Jamie continued staring out the window, his back stiff, tense. Daniil watched him curiously. He didn't see many children.

"Do you want to go swimming Jamie?" Daniil asked. Jamie looked up at him and grinned slightly, nodding in a subdued way.

Daniil grinned back and extended a hand that Jamie grasped. Yassen couldn't help the fingers of jealousy that stabbed at his heart. Why didn't Jamie trust him? Why did he trust everyone else but him?

Daniil led Jamie out of the room to the elevator. They got in and Jamie stared around, taking in every detail subtly. He had quietly resolved to wait for an opportunity to escape. Daniil stood chatting amiably to a woman who was in the elevator, flirting with her.

Jamie watched as the woman's floor came up and the doors opened. She didn't notice, she was busy batting her eyelids at Daniil. Jamie manoeuvred himself over beside the buttons and just as the doors were about to close he ran his hand along the keypad, pushing every single button and springing out of the lift.

He heard Daniil yell but the doors closed and Jamie hurried through the nondescript hallways, looking for an exit sign or a hiding place. Anything.

He heard footsteps purposefully running down the corridor he'd just turned off and he made a decision. He sprinted off, positive that around the corner, the exit lay. He was proved right but he hesitated slightly and an alarm went off, ringing loudly to be heard throughout the building.

The receptionist got out from behind her desk and Jamie slid under and crouched, positive she hadn't seen him. She returned to her post just as the footsteps walked into the reception and Jamie peered out through the tiny gap between the wood and put a hand over his mouth to stifle a gasp. Daniil stood there, looking around him.

"Caroline, did you see a boy running around down here? I could've sworn he was coming this way" he asked, looking around.

The receptionist, Caroline, made a noise of disapproval.

"Really Daniil. Bested by a six year old" she said scornfully.

Daniil rolled his eyes. Christ, why did women have to be so difficult? So he'd slept with her last time he'd turned up. Big deal. Why did it matter if he called her or not afterwards?

Daniil turned and stormed out of reception angrily. Jamie waited patiently under the desk, hoping Caroline would leave so he could get out. He stared down at his hands and clenched them into tiny fists. He missed Al. He was quite sure Alex would miss him too. As brothers went, Alex and Jamie were very close.

Jamie listened closely, heart thudding in his ears, watching through the slit in the wood. He felt his heart twinge when the metal shutters slid down over the exit, locking him in. Jamie considered his options.

He wasn't stupid. He was actually quite clever for his age. He knew that Yassen would most likely be very angry. He also knew that he'd as good as burned his bridges with Daniil. Now he was locked into an unfamiliar building with two furious full grown men. His only chance would be to try the roof. The windows would all have been locked by now with metal covering them.

Footsteps entered reception, this time calm footsteps that knew they'd get what they wanted. Jamie gulped. Yassen.

"Ms. Rhyes, could you please leave your post? I have a feeling the boy will make his way down here" Yassen said quietly, an order not a request.

Caroline hurried from reception and Yassen stood stock still in the middle of the large, marbled room.

"Jamie, come out right now. I know you're down here" Yassen said quietly.

Jamie frowned. Was he bluffing? Jamie considered his odds. He could try and run. He could give himself up. He could try and fight. He instantly scratched the last option out and concentrated hard.

"Jamie, you promised you wouldn't, to put it in your words, 'try anything'. Come out right now" Yassen said menacingly.

Jamie cursed himself in his head. Dad had told him to keep his word anytime he gave it. What was he going to do?

"I'm not going to play hide and seek with you. Get out here now" Yassen said coldly.

Yassen cursed himself in his head. He was trying to be gentle but it was coming out all wrong. If Jamie was in the room, he'd probably be terrified by now.

Jamie weighed his choices again. He had to do what Yassen said now. He couldn't not do it. He crawled slowly out from under the desk and Yassen turned around at the slight noise.

Yassen let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding in and Jamie fumbled to his feet, back to Yassen, hands on the table. Unknown to Yassen, Jamie had slipped a small stapler into his pocket.

Jamie turned around and stared innocently at Yassen who walked across to him and lifted him roughly by the hips. Jamie concluded he couldn't use the stapler on Yassen. He'd have to wait to get out. Til after the lock-down at least.

Yassen carried Jamie up the stairs quickly and back up to his room where Daniil stood leaning against the wall. Jamie kept his eyes on the floor and Yassen set him down on the bed.

Jamie could feel Daniil's gaze on him and avoided it like the plague.

"I can't let you out of my sight for a minute, can I? Jamie, if you pull anything like that again I swear I'll-I'll"

"What? You're not my dad! You can't do anything!" Jamie interrupted angrily.

Yassen took a deep breath.

"Jamie, I don't appreciate your lack of manners" he said as dispassionately as possible.

Jamie scowled.

"I don't care! I hate you! I hate both of you!" he yelled angrily.

Jamie jumped to his feet and Daniil moved forward, expecting him to make a run for the door. Yassen watched in fascinated horror as Jamie pulled a stapler from nowhere. Daniil reached forward to grab it and Jamie smacked him hard in the cheek, a staple lodging itself in his cheek.

Blood started flowing from the wound and Daniil acted on a primal instinct, back handing Jamie across the face, sending the boy flying to the floor.

Yassen moved forward and Jamie started to get up.

"Stay down!" Yassen ordered.

Jamie continued his movement and Daniil coldly delivered a roundhouse kick to the boy's face. Jamie fell to the floor with a dull thud and made no effort to get back up. Yassen made his way over to where Daniil stood over the boy, cheek gushing, eyes full of regret.

Yassen roughly pushed him back and bent over Jamie. For a split second, he was sure the boy was dead. Then, he felt the pulse beneath his fingers and he exhaled with relief. It worried him that he'd gotten attached to the boy. It scared him slightly.

Daniil frowned above Yassen.

"I-I didn't mean to hit him that hard" he said listlessly.

Yassen grunted an acknowledgement and Daniil turned to go, intending to go see a nurse about his staple injury. Yassen picked up Jamie and carefully set him down in the bed, pulling the blanket over him. He was quite confident that Jamie would be fine but he wasn't sure enough to leave the boy alone.

Yassen dragged a chair over beside the bed and sat down, head in hands. If any harm came to Jamie, he knew he'd blame himself. How could Daniil have been so stupid? Yassen had to confess that he himself would most likely have done the same thing but the kick. The kick had been cold and calculated. Just like Daniil.

Yassen watched curiously as Jamie tossed in the bed. He was waking up, that much was sure. Yassen was going to have to bring him to a doctor as soon as possible.

Jamie gave a throaty cough then opened his eyes. Yassen reached for him to try and comfort him in whatever way possible and Jamie flinched away. Yassen frowned.

The lack of trust Jamie had for him was obvious. But the fear. Why fear? Yassen hadn't hurt the boy in any way, shape or form.

Jamie shook his head like a dog shaking off water and looked confusedly at Yassen.

Jamie touched his cheek gingerly and Yassen frowned.

"I told you to stay down" he said stonily.

"So?" replied Jamie.

"That means you stay down" Yassen said.

"Would you have?" Jamie countered. Stab.

"If I was six years old and confronted with a fully grown man who I knew to be a skilled fighter who was intent on beating me to a pulp then yes, I would have" Yassen replied. Parry.

Jamie rolled out of the bed and onto his feet, glaring at Yassen. Yassen was about to say something when his phone rang and he answered it, eyes never leaving Jamie.

"Yassen, it's me, Michael. Look, the younger Rider's been picked up by our man in MI6. You're heading this op. What do we do with him?" came an urgent voice, cracking with fear.

"Get the boy over here as quick as you can" Yassen said quietly.

"S'not that simple. Our man can't get up North. London's been going mental. MI6 are bursting into apartments and houses all over the city. They're claiming they're carrying out drug searches. The kid's reacted badly to the drug he was given. He's gone comatose on us. Our man doesn't know what to do. Can't take him to a hospital. The Director says he'll send over a helicopter as soon as one's free. Trouble is, I don't think you have that kind of time. Our man's staying in that doss house on Granger Park Road. The kid's lying on a raggedy mattress that people take drugs and do all sorts on. It's infected with roaches and every breath he takes could be his last" Michael said fearfully.

Yassen frowned.

"You said he was comatose. Not at death's door" he replied.

"Yassen, the kid's been throwing seizures the last forty-five minutes. His pupils are dilated and his pulse has slowed down. I think his heart's going to fail very soon without the attention he needs" Michael informed Yassen.

Yassen frowned. He was staying on a private island, just off the coast of Scotland, and it would be much too dangerous to go down to London. Or go to the mainland for that matter.

"Tell him to hand the boy over to Gilligan. Tell him I will write off the phony info he gave me if he get's the boy up here by tomorrow morning" Yassen said, hanging up.

Jamie's mouth tightened into a line and he turned away, pretending not to be bursting with curiosity. Then, as though thinking better of it, he turned back around and stared up at Yassen, eyes full of longing.

"You were talking about Alex. Where is he?" he said quietly.

Yassen frowned. Once again, he'd underestimated Jamie.

"Yes, we were talking about Alex. I don't know where he is. Don't ask me about your brother, alright? I don't know anything about his whereabouts or welfare. If I receive anything of importance about him, I will tell you" Yassen said.

Jamie stared shrewdly at him.

"Liar. Liar. Pants. On. Fire" he said, pronouncing each word carefully.

Yassen looked out the window, noticing the rapidly darkening sky.

"Bed. Now" he ordered.

Jamie frowned.

"No. S'not time yet. It's only eight" he insisted.

Yassen considered. He was surprised Jamie hadn't made a fuss over his diverted answer. He'd have to set up a spare bed soon.

Jamie rolled out of bed and stood in front of Yassen.

"I'm hungry" he informed Yassen.

Yassen frowned. He'd never considered the fact that Jamie would get hungry.

"Well what do you want to eat?" Yassen asked.

Jamie grinned.

"Food" he replied.

Yassen frowned and Jamie took the hint.

"Anything" he said.

Yassen sighed loudly. He knew there was a kitchen downstairs that would definitely be fully stocked but Yassen never cooked for anyone but himself.

Yassen lifted Jamie by the waist and Jamie squirmed.

"Put me down!" he ordered.

Yassen set Jamie down on his feet and Jamie dusted himself off, somewhat pointlessly.

Jamie reached out for Yassen's hand and Yassen stared at the child-like hand outstretched toward him. He was in two minds whether to take it. On one side, it was John's son. A boy Yassen found himself wanting to connect with. A boy Yassen wanted to like him. But on the other, he was just an assignment. Granted, a younger than usual assignment, but an assignment none the less.

Yassen gave Jamie his hand and Jamie took it, grasping it firmly. Yassen smiled to himself on the inside, desperately trying to tell himself that he wasn't glad Jamie was showing a small sign of trust toward him.

Yassen led Jamie to the elevator and when they got on, Yassen made a point of pushing the button for the ground floor, giving Jamie a look that clearly warned him not to so much as reach for the buttons. Jamie looked shrewdly at Yassen and then turned his attention to the numbers being displayed over the door of the elevator. When the doors opened, Yassen led Jamie across the reception hall and down a long corridor, into a large kitchen.

The fridge,a large American branded monstrosity, hummed quietly and Jamie pulled himself up onto the counter, sitting with his legs hanging over the edge, kicking them to and fro. Yassen opened the fridge and took a look at what was available.

He didn't expect the fridge to be full to breaking point with various foods from all around the world. He pulled out a microwavable Shepherd's Pie and cut the foil carefully. Jamie watched as Yassen put it into the microwave and then Jamie watched as Yassen leaned casually against the counter.

"Yassen, do you have a younger brother?" asked Jamie, looking down at the floor.

Yassen looked at the boy, trying to deduce was the question worth answering.

"No, I don't" he finally answered.

Jamie frowned.

"Weren't you lonely?"Jamie asked, watching Yassen astutely.

Yassen shrugged but did not answer and Jamie smiled, oblivious to the tenseness of Yassen's muscles.

"I never get lonely. I have dad and I have mum and I have Alex and Uncle Ian and even Ash, when he's around".

At the mention of Ash's name, Yassen groaned inwardly. The boy didn't know. About the plane. About his mother and father. John. Yassen quickly crossed out the mention in his head of the name. Giving him a name would only make him seem more human. Now he was just another faceless body.

The microwave pinged loudly and Yassen grabbed the plastic tray, tipping the contents onto a plate and handing it to Jamie. Jamie pulled a fork from one of the drawers and started eating quickly as though he was afraid the meal would disappear in a matter of minutes. He quickly became full and dropped his fork, looking down at the table for the first time noticing what a mess he'd made. There was mince and mashed potato all over the table and him.

Yassen raised an eyebrow in an exasperated manner. Jamie simply grinned. Yassen went back over to the large fridge, this time opening the freezer section and pulling out an ice-cream for Jamie. Jamie took it, slurping it loudly and Yassen picked up a newspaper that was lying on the counter, flicking it open.

A half hour later, Yassen closed the newspaper and put it down, looking over and nearly smiling at the sight of Jamie slumped on the table, ice cream all around his mouth,fast asleep.

Yassen got up silently and as gently as possible lifted Jamie up. Jamie stirred sleepily then buried his head on Yassen's shoulder. Yassen carried him carefully from the kitchen, switching off the light on his way, and Jamie murmured something very quietly. Yassen called an elevator and as soon as it arrived he went straight up to his floor. The elevator halted momentarily to allow a woman on as it reached the first floor.

Yassen reached his floor and got off, entering his room and gently setting Jamie down on the bed, tugging the blanket over him. Yassen then sat down and turned his back on Jamie, opening once again the Japanese workbook.

He sighed loudly, granting himself a few moments to think normally, taking into account his feelings. This whole assignment was not going as planned. Yassen had been positive he was strong enough for it. But Jamie was so much like John it made Yassen wish for his old mentor back. His old friend. And now Alex. If he died, Yassen knew he would never forgive himself. Ever. And as a trained killer, he didn't regret anything. But if Alex- it was unspeakable. Yassen pinched the bridge of his nose, head tilted back, then sat normally again. Sleep would not come easily tonight for him. That much was sure...

* * *

**I have just the one more OC to add to the story now. Next chapter will be totally and completely following Wolf as he leads his unit around London, assisting police and storming more than one house.**

**I think you might have noticed that Alex's segments are generally much shorter than Jamie's, especially in this chapter. I assure you, I can't wait til I get to bring Alex into the story further, but for now I'm trying to let Jamie develop and explain him to you. After all, he doesn't have a series of books about him in his teenage years now, does he?**

**Now, for the fun part. You get to voice your opinions in a review (You should be applauding right about now). I hope you do answer these questions and please do review. **

**1) Should Alex be found before he gets to Yassen?**

**2) If so, should Wolf be the one to find him?**

**3) Should Yassen be left in charge of Jamie?**

**4) Daniil is going to play a pretty big role in the story. Is this something you wanted?**

**5) Should Ian become involved in the story? Should Ash?**

**6)(Last question, I'm probably boring you now) Which brother should be the first to find out about their parents deaths?**

**If you've read this far into my A.N. congratulations. I appreciate all reviews given, especially constructive criticism.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Alex Rider series. My parents love me but there's a limit to the cost of birthday presents.**

**I think this is by far the poorest chapter in the story. I had to eek (is that spelt right?) it out and it took a long, long time to write. I hope you appreciate that fact. BTW, I'm glad I've got this bit done. The next chapter will be far better.**

* * *

Wolf battered down the door of yet another apartment, unable to quash the uprising of hope that Alex might be in there. He moved quickly up the stairs and shoved his way through a thin timber door. The stench of rotten fruit assaulted his nostrils and Wolf frowned, sweeping through the building, Fox behind him. 

The building yielded nothing but a few leaves of hash left over when the owner had decided to take his stock and run. Wolf grunted angrily and banged his fist against the wall.

Fox sighed loudly.

"Wolf, calm down. We will find him. But not like this" he told Wolf, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Wolf grunted in agreement and turned to leave the building when his walkie started buzzing and his Commander's voice came through.

"Lieutenant Wolf, we've just picked up on a call, picking up a seemingly definite location on the boy. A doss house on Granger Park road. Boy is in critical condition, I repeat, critical condition".

Wolf looked over at Fox and nodded, both of them sprinting out and down the stairs nearly bowling over the rest of K-Unit who were guarding the stairs into the apartment.

Wolf led his team down and alley and out the other side, turning left and heading for Granger Park road as quickly as they could, trying not to draw attention to themselves.

They reached Granger Park road and Wolf scanned the area, quickly picking out the "doss" house they were looking for. Wolf rushed up the steps and through the open door. K-Unit spread out, picking their way through the house carefully, leaving nothing unseen.

Wolf stormed up the stairs to the second floor. He burst into an emptyish room and looked around, the smell of sweat, drugs and urine nearly over whelming him. There was a ragged, paper thin mattress in the corner and Wolf crouched over it, spotting something on it that troubled him greatly. Three blond hairs.

Wolf pulled out his walkie and held down the button.

"Base this is Wolf. Base, do you read me? Over" he said, impatiently running through procedure.

"Wolf this is Base. We read you. Over" came a crackling voice over the walkie.

"Possible DNA confirmation of boy. In a house in Granger Park. Requesting forensic team immediately. Over" Wolf said.

"Copy that lieutenant. Request granted. Maintain position. Over".

Wolf got to his feet as the rest of his unit joined him.

"The kid was here. Alex. I'm absolutely positive" he mumbled.

Fox gave a grunt of agreement and Snake looked at the mattress with disgust.

"They let him lie there? On that disease ridden filth soaked excuse for a mattress. Wolf, people have injected themselves on that. People have had sex on that mattress!" he said contemptuously.

Wolf grunted, not wanting to think about Alex on his own, taken away from anywhere he knew, lying there. There came a trampling up the stairs and a young, fresh faced man walked into the room wearing a plain white jumpsuit, carrying a steel case.

Wolf nodded at the man who stretched his hand out. Wolf shook it then stepped aside and let the man do his job. The man carefully extracted the hairs and bagged them. Then, scratching his head, he pulled out a black-light and switched it on, checking the mattress carefully.

Wolf clenched his jaw when the large puddle was illuminated on the mattress. The man ran a cotton bud along the puddle, squirting some foul smelling liquid out of a tiny vial onto the sample. He frowned at the cotton then took another sample and bagged it.

He got back on his feet and was turning to leave when Wolf stopped him.

"What is that?" he asked, jerking his thumb at the stain.

The man sighed.

"Urine. I'll test it when I get back to the lab, see if there are any chemicals. If I was you, I'd look around for any clues" the man said, leaving the room and going back out onto the street.

"He makes us sound like those Scooby Doo kids" commented Snake airily.

Wolf ignored the suggestion and walked slowly out of the room. He wandered through the various rooms of the house and stopped in the kitchen, staring around carefully. That was when he spotted the glint. He moved over to the slide open patio door and stepped into the back garden. He knelt down and picked the half burned SIM card that lay on the ground. He lifted it slowly, examining it carefully. Someone had tried to burn it. That meant it had something important on it.

Wolf slipped it into his pocket, determined that he'd get it examined. Wolf made his way back up to where Fox stood and sighed loudly.

Then, he noticed something wasn't right. His unit stood grouped together staring at something. Fox looked up and nodded grimly at Wolf, handing him the TeleCom link he operated for K-Unit.

Wolf stared at the screen and clicked play. The picture was black and white, security camera style, and it showed a London Main Street. Wolf could see Westminster in the background, over the rooftops of a few shops. But that wasn't the important part. An adult could be seen foggily in the shot. A man, about six feet tall, with black hair that Wolf quickly recognised as the techie. And in his arms he held a bundle. Wolf felt a shiver run down his spine. The man moved quickly along the street, walking below the camera and out of view.

Wolf handed it back to Fox and noted the look of unease on Fox's face.

"Wolf, MI6 want us to move out of here and go back to headquarters. Thinks are going mental all over. They'll send a team of forensic officers out here tomorrow, but right now they want to calm things down a bit. There's rioting on the major council estates. Drug dealers are getting testy about the police everywhere" Fox said.

Wolf nodded.

"Shift's over anyway. I've got to go home or the missus will start ringing" Eagle said apologetically.

"Yeah, my niece is being baptised tonight. I've gotta go shower and change", Snake said, "I would stay mate, I can't though. My sister'll kill me if I miss it".

"It's my folks wedding anniversary tonight. We're having a big meal. It's there fiftieth. I've got to go to that Wolf. Wish I could cancel though" Fox said, studying his friend's face regretfully.

"I'm going to drop over to MI6, see if I can help. Grace is out of town for tonight anyway. I found something out back. Look, I'll talk to you all later" Wolf said.

He moved swiftly from the room and thumped down the stairs out front, walking slowly onto the street, the streetlights glowing in a dull way.

He started walking wearily, the humour of the situation curling his lips into a slight smile. He was walking through London in full uniform. He looked like he'd just stepped out of a war movie. He'd never manage to pull of being inconspicuous in uniform. He scanned the street he was walking and noticed a clothes shop that was still open. He stepped inside and grabbed the first things he saw. A red t-shirt and a pair of jeans. He picked up a pair of cheap white runners in the footwear department and headed straight for the check out.

The check-out girl smiled widely at him. He was definitely gorgeous, she decided to herself. He smiled in a friendly manner and she scanned his items. He tipped her five pounds. She ignored the fact he was in military uniform. Must have been a fancy dress or something.

Wolf went to the fitting rooms and changed quickly, stuffing his uniform into his clothes bag. Now, more suitably dressed, he hurried back out onto the streets and flagged a taxi.

Hopping in, he stowed his bag on the seat beside him, patting his pocket gently. He'd swapped the SIM card in there when he'd changed.

"Liverpool street please" he directed the taxi man who nodded and took off.

"You seen the coppers all over the city today? Blimey, we was raided twice" the driver said, eyeing Wolf with the rear view mirror.

Wolf nodded and the taxi driver carried on.

"Lookin' for someone they are lad. Me mate's friend, 'e's a copper. Said they're lookin' for some sprog. Some's say 'e's been nabbed. Others say 'e's run off. Whole city's yammerin' about 'im. Ain't got no name yet, nobody knows it" the taxi driver gossipped.

Wolf nodded amiably and the taxi driver talked on.

"Course, there's some what say right ridiculous things 'bout 'im. Some what say it's MI6 wat're lookin' for 'im. Right stupid that 'un. Say 'e's the son of someone 'igh up. Say 'e's been taken by some terrorist group" the taxi driver said, chuckling softly.

Wolf nodded again and the taxi driver went on.

"Some say them's SAS what're runnin' round the city. I've 'ad 'ardly no business today. You're only me third bleedin' fair. I ain't 'ardly goin' to put my lads through college at this rate" the taxi driver chuckled heartily.

Wolf nodded once again, glad the taxi driver didn't seem to care he hadn't contributed to the conversation at all.

"My mate down the docks, says they should close 'em of too. Gets all sorts of weirdos down there. Some guy today, wouldn't let 'em search 'is truck what were goin' up North. Pulled a gun on 'em. I asks you, where were the bleedin' coppers then?" the driver said.

Wolf nodded again and the taxi driver pulled over.

"How and ever, 'ere's your stop. I'd best be gettin' 'ome for the missus kicks off. That'll be fifteen quid mate" the driver said.

Wolf got out of the car and fished a twenty out of his pocket and handed it to the driver.

"Put you lads to Harvard" he said, turning and walking inside the building, the driver's chuckles ringing in his ears. Wolf crossed reception quickly, flashing his military pass at the receptionist and calling an elevator. He stepped into it and pressed for the third floor. Electronics.

The elevator smoothly carried him there and he stepped into the bustling room, filled with conversation. Wolf strode over to the nearest cubicle and grinned. He recognised the man he'd approached.

"Hi Dale, you wouldn't do me a favour would you?" he asked the scholarly man before him. Dale and Wolf had gone to college together and Wolf vaguely remembered going to a pub with Dale at some stage during their graduation year.

"Uh, Jamie, isn't it?" Dale said uncertainly. Wolf nodded and took the SIM from his pocket, handing it to Dale.

"Look, Dale, I need you to test this SIM. Get all the info on it. And drop it up to my office" Wolf said, turning and leaving the room. Dale stared after him confusedly.

Wolf moved up the stairwell quickly and then hurried along the floor til he reached the door of his office. He pulled out his key and opened the door, throwing his uniform back on the floor and throwing himself into his chair. He crossed his arms across his chest and leaned backward in his seat. He looked briefly at his watch the let out a loud, long sigh. His thoughts turned to Alex. Poor kid. Probably didn't even know about his parents yet.

Wolf tried to deny it but he couldn't help but admit the kid was cute. In an annoying, extra baggage way he told himself angrily. He sighed again. That was a lie. Alex was the kind of kid he could just about stand, maybe even like to have around.

The phone rang loudly and Wolf leaned forward, picking it up quickly.

"Hey baby!" came a voice Wolf recognised instantly as his current girlfriend, Grace.

"Oh, hi" he replied, his exhaustion showing through in his voice.

"Awww, babes, you sound exhausted! Can't wait to get back to you! My mum won't shut up about how you're 'weak jawed' or whatever" she said, giggling.

Wolf rubbed his jaw self consciously. He hated the mother's.

"Anyway darling, I just called to see was you alright. Laters" she chattered, hanging up. Wolf put down the phone and massaged his temples. Grace was easily the most irritating girl he'd dated in his entire life. She whined constantly about how his apartment was so bare and how his dog, Charlie, was a big hairy nuisance.

Wolf suddenly felt a stab in his chest. He thought back to the taxi driver and what he'd said. 'Some guy today, wouldn't let 'em search 'is truck what were goin' up North. Pulled a gun on 'em'. No smuggler pulled a gun for something that small. A knife maybe. But a gun. He leaned forward and switched on the computer on his desk. He logged into the special MI6 mainframe and clicked on the search box. Then, slowly, he typed in Alex Rider and clicked the button.

Instantly, an on screen file turned up. Wolf let out a low whistle. The screen had filled up with all sorts of information. Wolf scanned the file and clicked on a link for relatives. Then, he quickly brought up Alex's brother's file. James Rider.

Wolf scrolled slowly through it until he reached a photo. It was black and white and blurry as though taken from a distance and during movement. It showed a blond haired boy in a dark pair of tracksuit bottoms and what looked like a white t-shirt kicking a ball to a man. The man and the boy were the image of each other. Wolf frowned thoughtfully. He clicked backward onto Alex's file and was scrolling down when the electricity flicked off completely. Wolf got to his feet and looked in the direction of the window. He watched as lights disappeared all around the city, flicking out one by one.

Wolf sat back down again and kept calm. The power would be back. The lights flickered and spluttered and then went back on with a hum. Wolf watched the process repeating itself all over the city. Then, he directed his gaze back to the computer screen.

He heard a tap on his door and looked up to see Dale enter and sit down on the opposite side of the desk.

"I scanned you SIM. Easy enough. One message. It read, and I quote, 'Get the boy to Gilligan. He'll bring to Gregorovich. It's all been arranged. Drop the boy at the docks in hold 144'. Sounds intriguing" Dale said, pressing his fingers together.

Wolf nodded.

"Who's this kid everyone's talking about Jamie? Give me a bit of background info and I might just tell you about this Gilligan" Dale offered casually.

Wolf shrugged.

"Or I could just ask anyone else in your department. Or check the system" he said, staring Dale in the eyes.

"You could" Dale said, grinning.

"I won't though. The boy's name is Alex Rider. He's four years old. Son of some MI6 hotshot. Anyway, his parents were killed in an explosion and Stiletto kidnapped both Alex and his brother. Alex was found and brought back to MI6 and an undercover Stiletto agent took him" Wolf said hurriedly.

Dale blew out his cheeks in surprise.

"It's like a soap opera or something" he said disbelievingly.

Wolf nodded and Dale sighed.

"If you want, I'll bring you down to my department and do a run through of whatever I can on the case" Dale offered.

Wolf nodded again and both men got to their feet.

Dale grinned at Wolf in a relaxing way.

"And you can tell me all about how you went from a degree in Chemistry and English to an SAS member" he said light heartedly.

"How'd you know I was SAS?" Wolf asked, puzzled.

"Might want to find somewhere to put your uniform besides a department store bag" Dale said, winking.

Wolf followed the man out of the room, ignoring his snickers.

Nine hours later Wolf rubbed his eyes blearily. He'd never realised staring at a computer screen could hurt so much.

Dale got to his feet and walked over to his beeping fax machine and grabbed the paper, cursing at the smudgy ink he got on his fingers. Wolf watched as he paled noticeably and then gave Wolf an 'You are not going to like this' look. He thrust out his hand and handed Wolf the paper.

Wolf stared at it and frowned.

Once again, it was a security camera, this time a still shot. Wolf scrunched his nose and what he could see. It looked like a bookshop, most likely the children's section from the large, cardboard cutouts Wolf vaguely recognised as the irritating actor from High School Musical (And no, he hadn't actually willingly watched it, he'd been babysitting for his older sister). Wolf noticed someone had drawn a large red circle around a certain portion of the photo. Wolf focused on that and bit his lip angrily.

Firstly, he recognised Alex instantly. He looked fine, if a bit groggy, and was standing amiably clinging onto the hand of the techie who'd taken him. But it was the man who looked to be addressing the techie that made Wolf uneasy. Yassen Gregorovich was shaking hands with him. And there was another man. He was crouching in front of Alex, and appeared to be talking to him. The other Russian. Daniil Federov.

Wolf grunted angrily. The hunt had begun...

* * *

**Okay hope you liked. And now, for me to quiz you...(Insert evil laugh) Bear in mind I can't please everyone or do what they suggest so if you give me a suggestion I will consider it. But this story basically has an idea where it's going so...But I do love reading your answers to my questions. They make me smile. Also, I have two new stories as of late. Whatever it Takes and Operation Phoenix. I'd love it if you'd check them out and review. (Am I allowed talk about other stories here?)**

**1. Should Yassen keep both brothers?  
2. If Alex is brought back to London, should he still get to see Wolf from time to time?  
3. Should Ash stick around for Alex or go off on his travels?  
4. Should Ian look after Alex or should Ash or do you genuinely think he should stay with Yassen?  
5. At this point in time, which brother intrigues you more?  
6. The last OC will be female. Dale is not an OC, he's a supporting character. Do you have any recommendations on what the OC should be called, her nationality etc?**

**That's it for now. Oh, also, I was wondering if anyone out there could write me a summary for this story? It's just that I suck at summary writing. Or if you have any suggestions on a change of title????  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Alex Rider series. You can't like, own a series man, it belongs to mother nature...**

**Anyway, this chapter was eked out during a writing dry spell. It's a filler chapter. And about that female OC I mentioned, she's in this chapter but I regret to say she won't be with us for long.**

* * *

"Hey Alex" the man said softly. Alex frowned. He knew him from somewhere but in his present state he'd never be able to tell who he was or why he seemed so familiar.

"Look, I got you a present" he said, handing Alex a glossy children's book. Alex frowned.

He said nothing, for fear of antagonising the headache that he could feel throbbing away.

"If you can't read, I'll read it to you, yeah?" said the man, grinning.

Alex nodded dozily and the man returned to his full height, joining the conversation with the dark haired man and his colleague.

Alex looked at the book in his hands and squinted his eyes. It had a big brown monster on the front, hiding behind a tree. Alex grinned at the picture.

He felt himself being lifted and he looked around to see the black haired man hand him to the man who'd given him the book. Alex rested his head on the man's shoulder and yawned sleepily. He'd just close his eyes for a few minutes. Maybe have a little nap.

Daniil looked down at Alex and grinned, jerking his head at the boy to grab Yassen's attention.

Yassen looked at Alex then back at the dark haired man, a man called Arthur Jones.

"So you're saying we should induce a comatose state so he can let the effects of the sedative wear off totally?" Yassen said.

Arthur nodded quickly, his fear of the Russian quite easy to see.

"Fine. Look, we've been seen on that camera. Go back to where ever it is you live and get your things. Get out of the country as soon as possible" Yassen said, sorely tempted to just shoot him and throw caution to the wind. He didn't even know what he was doing on the mainland. That idiot Jones had jeopardised the entire operation by picking an awful drop point.

Yassen turned and moved quickly from the shop, Daniil following, a stupid smile painted on his face.

"Daniil, I know this will be difficult for your tiny brain to understand but could you please rip that expression off your face and throw it in the nearest bin?" Yassen said, moving out through the large, sliding doors and onto the cold, dull grey street.

"You know what you need, my friend? A girlfriend. Or a puppy" Daniil replied, grinning at his own wit.

Yassen ignored the comment and rounded a corner, nearly knocking over a middle aged woman who was huffing along with her shopping. He kept moving regardless and the woman muttered something about "bad mannered little pup".

Daniil apologised quickly to the woman then caught up with his friend.

"You should really consider it. A Labrador might do wonders for your temper" he chimed.

Alex let out a little sniff in his sleep and Daniil pulled up the collar of the coat he was wearing, covering Alex's face from the cold wind. He petted the small head of blond hair and grinned. Jamie and Alex together. This was going to be interesting...

* * *

When Jamie woke up, he quickly noticed he was covered in sticky stuff and Yassen wasn't ordering him to take a bath. Rolling out of the large bed, he walked slowly around the room. 

He reached the desk and sat down on Yassen's chair, a rush of adrenalin running through him at the thought of doing something Yassen probably wouldn't like.

He reached forward and pulled one of Yassen's books of the shelf attached to the wall over the desk and examined it curiously. It was an old, dog-eared book that said 'German for beginners' on the front. Jamie wrinkled his nose in disgust. He put the book back and noticed the drawers at the side of the desk. He slotted open one and stared at the paper neatly stacked inside it.

He closed it again.

He opened the next one and let out a gasp. There was a silver gun with a black handle inside. Looking around guiltily, Jamie closed the drawer again.

He sat for an entire minute staring at the drawer and then opened it again, his eyes flickering to the door and then back to the gun. He plucked it from the drawer by the handle. It felt heavy in his childish hands. He grabbed it with both hands and pointed it at the bed, then the window then the door. It felt good, as if the gun was part of him. His small, child sized hands, gripped it tightly.

He got to his feet and grabbed the door handle, twisting it and frowning upon finding it locked. Then he pointed the gun at the door and pulled the trigger, expecting a large, loud bang. Instead, all he got was an empty click.

Jamie pressed his ear to the door and listened closely. He heard the ping of the elevator and then footsteps. It had to be Yassen.

Quickly, he dropped the gun back in it's drawer and shut it, jumping onto the bed and lying out, just catching his breath as the door opened and Yassen stepped inside.

Yassen frowned. He could just sense something was out of place. He scanned the room carefully, eyes resting on the desk. Then, they moved slowly to the drawer Jamie had just closed. Jamie felt his stomach clench. He had a horrible feeling that Yassen knew. He had to distract him.

Yassen was proceeding toward his desk when he felt arms around his stomach. Tensing, he looked down and saw that Jamie was hugging him, grinning.

"James, what are you doing?" Yassen asked mildly.

Jamie grinned up at him.

"I told you, it's Jamie. Where were you? What're we doing today?"

Yassen picked the child up and examined his face.

"Well, you are going to take a bath and then you're going to explain to me why the same kind of sticky coating covering you is on the handle of the drawer of my desk" Yassen said carefully.

Jamie rolled his eyes.

"I'm not the criminal here. I'm not the one who has a gun" he said preachingly.

Yassen set him down again and propelled him toward the bathroom.

"Go on, take a bath. Daniil has a surprise for you" he said, a smile twitching on the corners of his lips.

"Really? Is it an 'I'm sorry I over-reacted about a little tiny staple and kicked you very hard in the face' card?" Jamie said as sarcastically as he could manage.

Yassen smiled outright at that. The boy had Helen's humour.

Jamie watched Yassen carefully. He looked kind of like Jamie's dad when he smiled. And much more happier than usual. Usually he looked like Jamie's dad when Alex was smaller and did a pee pee in his nappy.

"I'll get the bath set up for you" Yassen said, walking into the bathroom.

Half an hour later, Jamie was dressed in fresh clothes, his hair dripping water all over the carpet.

"Can I go see the surprise now?" Jamie pleaded.

Yassen stepped out of the bathroom, hair soaked, wearing a pair of jeans and a black shirt. Jamie grinned. It was funny seeing a grown up walking around in their socks.

"After you pushed me into a bath full of water, ruining my bathroom and my clothes?" Yassen commented airily as he slipped on his combat boots.

Jamie grinned widely.

Yassen got to his feet and Jamie tugged his sleeve.

"What now?" asked Yassen.

Jamie made a gesture with his hands and Yassen picked him up, carrying him slowly from the room.

Yassen couldn't help but wonder what had changed the night before. Why was Jamie so different?

Yassen called the elevator and it arrived quickly. He stepped in, pressing the top floor and Jamie giggled. Yassen frowned and looked at the child, noting he hadn't put on his shoes. Yassen was amazed by the way the boy had changed completely. Something wasn't right about him. Something was off. Yassen resolved to watch the boy as closely as possible. Jamie grinned innocently at Yassen and Yassen felt a sense of uneasiness. There was something about Jamie he hadn't noticed before. Something powerful.

The doors of the elevator opened with a ping and Yassen moved quickly down the corridor. Some operatives were superstitious about the medical wing of the building being on the thirteenth floor but it didn't bother Yassen in the slightest.

He set Jamie down again as he entered one of the plain, white rooms. The room was bare, and blank, with just a hospital bed and some beeping machines. Daniil sat in a chair by the bed. He grinned at Yassen and Jamie. Jamie walked over to the bed but was too short to see. Yassen lifted him up and both of them stared at the sight before them.

Alex looked even smaller in the large bed, his feet barely reaching halfway down it. He had a blue mask hooked up to his face that he was breathing through. Jamie stared in interest at the white thing clipped onto his finger. Jamie looked at Yassen, then Daniil, then back at Alex.

"Why's he asleep?" Jamie asked curiously.

Yassen shot Daniil a warning look.

"What's that thing on his face?" Jamie asked, reaching toward his brother. Yassen caught hold of Jamie's hand and pushed it back toward Jamie as gently as possible.

"Don't touch him Jamie" he said as softly as possible.

Jamie looked as though he was going to disagree then he suddenly went back to staring at his brother in confusion.

"Daniil's going to wait here while we have breakfast. Besides, I have someone for you to meet. I think you'll like her" Yassen said gently.

He gave himself a mental pat on the back for his tact. Jamie nodded silently and Yassen moved from the room back to the elevator. Yassen felt Jamie stiffen in his arms and he set him down gently.

Jamie gripped Yassen's finger tightly, Yassen pressed the button for the ground floor and the elevator started moving again.

"What's wrong with Al?" he asked timidly.

Yassen looked down at the boy. He sounded worried.

"He's asleep Jamie" Yassen explained carefully.

"That's adult for he's dead! My brother's dead!" Jamie yelped, tears streaming down his face.

"Don't be an idiot Jamie. He's fine. He was sick so we put him to sleep so he can get better" Yassen said, trying to calm the boy down.

Jamie stared up at Yassen.

"That's what the pet doctor said about Missus O' Reilly's cat!" he said, tears really starting to fall, bucketing from his eyes.

"Stop being so childish. Your brother is fine" Yassen said quietly.

"Liar!" yelled Jamie, furiously.

Yassen massaged his forehead, Jamie's wails starting to give him the mother of all headaches.

"Jamie, be quiet right now or I will seriously hurt you!" Yassen barked, cracking under the persistent wails.

Jamie let out a screech of anger and proceeded with throwing himself against the walls of the elevator, shrieking.

Yassen grabbed the boy and picked him up, holding the squirming child in a vice like grip.

"Jamie, stop it now!" ordered Yassen.

Jamie kicked him roughly and Yassen sighed loudly.

"Jamie if you don't stop I won't take you back up to Alex" Yassen threatened. Jamie went limp instantly and Yassen set him down again, watching the snivelling child with a look somewhere between pity and anger.

Jamie wiped his eyes roughly, and turned his back on Yassen sulkily.

"Jamie, stop that" Yassen ordered.

Jamie ignored him, huffing in his general direction. Yassen felt a sense of relief when the doors of the elevator opened again. He propelled Jamie along the corridor to the canteen and nodded stonily at the woman sitting at a table, drinking a large coffee and watching him closely.

She smiled at him and beckoned him over. Yassen firmly directed Jamie toward the table and made sure he sat down before seating himself. Then, he turned his attention to the woman, careful to remain aware of everything Jamie was doing.

"Yassen! How the hell are you?" she asked, laughing softly.

Yassen nodded again and her smile widened.

"I brought the little one with me. Colin says hello" she reported.

Yassen smiled tolerably at her. Her husband, Colin Wallace, had worked with him twice and Yassen didn't rate him. He was under cautious and over confident. His wife, Amber, irritated Yassen. And their daughter, Isabella. Yassen had seen the insufferable brat before and she had quickly put him off children. A tantrum throwing, prank playing monsteress.

The perfect playmate for Jamie.

Colin was working a job in Barcelona for the summer, a simple surveillance job, and Isabella was going to be placed in Yassen's care, spending a day with her father and then being brought with Yassen to his home in Russia in an effort to keep Jamie busy for two months.

"Sooo, I have a flight to catch again in an hour. I'd better take off or it'll be another day before I get home. Isabella's just gone to get her bag. She is sooo excited about seeing Colin. Is he yours?" she gabbed, eyeing Jamie toward the end of her sentence, grinning at him.

Jamie pulled a face and Yassen made a private resolution to throttle the boy.

"No, he's not mine" Yassen replied coolly.

Amber grinned once again and got to her feet, putting on her sunglasses.

"Well, toodles!" she said brightly, walking cockily from the room.

Jamie stared after her and as soon as she disappeared into the lift, Yassen gave Jamie a look that was clearly to be feared.

Before Yassen could open his mouth, a small girl came hurtling down the stairs, practically bouncing. She had long red hair, split into ponytails, and large green eyes. She came to a stop and frowned at Yassen.

"Oh, it's you" she said sulkily. She wore blue shorts and a yellow t-shirt, a pink rucksack on her shoulders.

Yassen ignored the comment and looked at Jamie, noticing he was slouching in his chair. Unaware Yassen was watching him, he stuck his tongue out at the girl. Yassen coughed loudly.

"Isabella, this is Jamie, Jamie, this is Isabella" he said.

Jamie's nose wrinkled crankily.

"Both of you will be coming with me to Barcelona, then on to Russia. Isabella, your mother thought you might like to play with Jamie?" Yassen suggested gently. He felt congratulations were in order. He was really getting better at dealing with children.

"He's a stupid boy and I hate him!" Isabella spat out venomously.

"She's got girl germs!" Jamie said despairingly.

"I don't want to!" they snapped simultaneously.

Yassen felt like knocking their heads together in frustration.

He got to his feet instead and Jamie did the same.

"Why don't you two go and irritate someone else for a few hours? In fact, I'll give you free run of the building for an hour and a half. Don't go near the doors, stay away from the firing range and keep out of everyone's way" Yassen said, deciding he'd be better off with some time to himself.

Jamie ignored him stubbornly and Yassen resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He turned and strode from the room, not bothering to glance back.

* * *

Isabella giggled behind her hand as she tip toed along behind Jamie. 

"You're going to be so busted!" she chirped brightly, a grin plastered on her face.

Jamie shushed his new friend quietly.

"Shut up, Yank" he replied, moving further along the third floor corridor. Isabella squawked indignantly. Jamie ignored her, creeping along slowly until he reached a door with a brass number 6 attached.

"You're sure this is his room?" he asked Isabella.

She nodded quickly.

"Yep. Totally" she assured Jamie.

The two children had quickly become inseparable. They'd found themselves to be the same age, Isabella a month older, and sharing some interests. Jamie was pleased with his new friend, she was good company. She could spit eleven feet, slide down banisters as well as any boy Jamie knew and had a wonderful store of knowledge. They'd had two days run of the building, Yassen was pleased at having distracted Jamie from his slowly recovering baby brother. Storms had halted any plans of flying to Barcelona and Yassen had decided to wait them out.

Jamie had it on good authority that they'd be flying out tomorrow. The children made an adorable pair, especially Jamie who most people had never seen before. The receptionist in particular had a soft spot for him, calling him Ducky, sweetheart, chicken, pet and an entire collection of fruity nicknames. Jamie basked in the attention and she'd told him yesterday when he'd be flying out, confessing that she's miss him a lot.

They'd decided to round off their stay on a cheerful note, planning carefully upon the best way to annoy Daniil. Isabella had provided Jamie with the location of Daniil's room and they were standing outside the door, grinning.

Jamie eyed the 'Do Not Disturb' sign with a cheeky grin and burst in. Daniil was standing by the window, holding a slim, blond woman in a hug, her back on his chest. Jamie loped over to him and embrace his leg in a bear hug.

"Dad!" he piped up, giggling.

Daniil turned to look at Jamie, his mouth an 'O' shape and the woman frowned.

"I thought you said I was your first!" she said angrily.

"I-But-I" Daniil spluttered, trailing off feebly.

The woman slapped him haughtily across the face and stormed from the room, slamming the door behind her.

An entire minute passed of Daniil staring at Jamie, who had unhanded his leg and was standing giggling before him. Then, Jamie ran, Daniil starting ten seconds later. Jamie grabbed Isabella's hand, pulling her behind him around two corners. Jamie had gotten to know the layout of the building well. He took a shortcut through a room filled with weird paintings then swerved around the corner, the lift doors in sight. He frantically pressed the button for the lift. The doors slid open as Daniil came round the corner and Jamie pulled Isabella into the lift, slamming the button for the twelfth floor with his fist. The doors closed and both children heard Daniil pounding angrily on them.

Jamie laughed loudly and Isabella giggled nervously. The doors opened again and Jamie bounded along the corridor, heading straight into Yassen's rooms, grinning.

Yassen looked up from his laptop, part of him glad to see Jamie so happy rather than moping around about his brother. It really was amazing what a bit of child company had done to keep him out of Yassen's hair.

Then, he realised that Jamie had done something.

Yassen got to his feet and walked over to the boy, picking him up under the armpits, examining his face carefully.

"I know you did something. Something to do with Daniil. And his girlfriend?" Yassen though aloud.

Jamie giggled slightly and then threw on his best Poker Face. He really couldn't tell how Yassen always knew exactly what he'd done just by looking at him. He'd done it twice the day before already.

"Isabella helped but you were the one who carried it out. Daniil is on his way up here now, isn't he?" Yassen said.

Jamie nodded with a grin and Yassen set him down on the floor, sighing quietly.

"Jamie, I have been exercising patience, lenience and charity these past few days. But as soon as we reach my house, things **will **change and I will be punishing you for things like this" Yassen said, pacing over to the window.

Jamie made a face at his back and Yassen tutted.

"I can see your reflection in the window. The doctor told me that Alex should be able to travel tomorrow. He may wake, he may keep sleeping" Yassen said quietly.

Jamie swallowed the information happily. Yassen's head snapped around toward the door as Daniil walked into the room, eyes blazing, fists clenched.

Jamie jumped onto the bed and scrambled over, tactically placing Yassen in between himself and Daniil. Isabella appeared at the door and grinned innocently at Yassen.

Jamie flashed Daniil a cheeky grin.

"Daniil, that woman. She said something about being your first. What's that?" Isabella asked.

Jamie tilted his head, not understanding the line of questioning. Of course, he'd never let Isabella know that.

Daniil spluttered angrily and Yassen let out a very soft, very quiet chuckle.

"Daniil, why don't you go downstairs to your room? Jamie and Isabella are going to bed now. They need some rest before the flight tomorrow. So do you, seeing as you're coming as well" Yassen sad diplomatically.

Daniil looked as though he was going to argue but then he blinked and stormed out of the room angrily, running a hand through his hair. Yassen turned on Jamie and frowned.

"I don't even want to know what you did. Just go to bed before I lose it" Yassen said.

He was stressed out. Jamie and Isabella were a handful. They seemed determined to make his life harder. All Jamie did was alternate between messing around with Isabella and enquiring about Alex. It was driving Yassen slowly insane.

Jamie moved forward and tugged on Yassen's sleeve. Yassen rolled his eyes, crouching down.

"Yassen, what happened to my mum and dad? I asked Caroline and she cried. Why?" Jamie whispered.

Yassen frowned. He couldn't lie to Jamie, not about his parents. But now wasn't the time.

"Jamie, it's bed time. When we get to my house, I'll tell you" Yassen said.

Jamie nodded shyly.

"Promise?" he said quietly.

Yassen nodded and Jamie jumped onto the bed. Isabella was lying on the opposite end. Yassen had selflessly given the children his bed and taken the foldout bed, on the grounds that he didn't sleep as much.

Yassen sat down at his desk and looked over. Both children had fallen asleep instantly. Yassen plucked a Spanish workbook from his shelf and decided to brush up on some irregular verbs.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and focused on the pages before him. He resolved not to sleep so he would be fully alert and ready if anything went wrong.

He examined the clock on his desk.

9:45.

The night was going to drag by.

* * *

**Yay, more questions...**

**1) Am I actually allowed write questions here?**

**2) Do you like Isabella? I know she hasn't said much but from what you've read so far.**

**3) Who should tell Alex the truth about his parents? A) Mr. Blunt/Mrs. Jones B) Wolf C) Ash D) Ian**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Alex Rider series...**

**This chapter is dedicated to **sperare92 **who single handedly saved this story from hiatus.**

**Okay so, go on, what are you waiting for? Start reading!**

* * *

Ian Rider sprinted forward and embraced his youngest nephew, lifting him off the ground and spinning him around in a bear hug.

Alex yipped delightedly and buried his head on Ian's shoulder.

The airport bustled around them but no-one seemed to notice or care that a small boy had just entered through the private gate. No-one seemed to give a second glance at the large, odd looking party who appeared to be waiting for the boy. Four soldier's in full uniform, the SAS badge stitched onto their shoulders, a peppermint sucking, dark haired woman, a grey haired, grey suit wearing man and a thin, fair haired man who was cuddling the small boy enthusiastically.

"Alex, I was so worried! And you were so brave, such a big boy, I thought- Nevermind what I thought, I-I'm just so glad you're okay!" Ian said, words clambering from his mouth.

Alex gave a little noise of agreement and Ian set his nephew down, drinking in the tired toddler carefully. A couple of scratches on his cheek, a sprained wrist and a bruised knee. Not bad for a jump from a helicopter.

Wolf loped over and scooped Alex up carefully, tossing him in the air then catching him. Alex yelped happily and Wolf hugged the boy carefully.

Alex stared in fascination at Wolf's uniform and Wolf handed him his radio link and then, much to Alex's delight, took off his beret and perched it jauntily on Alex's head. Alex beamed at Wolf who grinned back.

"Hey half-pint. How're you doing?" Wolf asked cheerfully.

Alex giggled.

For the time being at least, he could forget what had happened. He could forget the cloud hanging over him. The words Jamie had yelled from the chopper. The threat. The promise. Alex pushed these feelings away, burying them in the darkest corner of his mind. 

Now wasn't the time to ask what the words meant.

* * *

Just over nine hundred and forty miles away a helicopter was touching down on the roof of a hotel in Barcelona.

Jamie jumped from the helicopter as soon as it landed, tears staining his cheeks.

Daniil followed closely and walked behind Jamie over to the railing where the six year old leaned unhappily, staring down at the ground far below.

Daniil reached out and patted Jamie's head, smoothing the mess of hair, and Jamie looked at him miserably.

"Why'd he shoot?" Jamie asked dismally.

Daniil pulled the boy to him in a hug then crouched down to his eye level.

"I don't know Jamie. I don't know if he even fired the gun. Yassen will be fine though. He's caught bullets before Jamie, he'll be back before you know it" Daniil offered.

Jamie sniffed.

"Alex is only small Jamie. He didn't fire. You remember when you tried to run away? Alex thought if he did it like in the movies he'd be able to go" Daniil said softly.

Jamie frowned.

"I wanted to run away for Alex. I don't care anymore. I have no brother. My mum and dad are dead! Isabella told me and so did Yassen. I have no family anymore" Jamie said.

Daniil felt a shiver run down his spine. Alone at six years old. Daniil frowned. Jamie was going to be leading a hard enough life anyway, without adding that fact he had lost his parents so young.

"You have me and Yassen. We'll be your family" Daniil offered.

Jamie grinned slightly.

"You're both boys. You can't be my mum and dad" he said quietly.

Daniil grinned goofily. (Yes, one of the worlds deadliest assassins grinned goofily!)

"Hey, kiddo, I do have standards!" he joked.

Jamie frowned. Why did grown ups tell the stupidest jokes?

Jamie looked back down at the cars zipping about far below and he blinked. He made a silent promise to himself. Alex would pay. Dearly.

* * *

**Six Hours Earlier**

Yassen slipped the Spanish workbook back onto the shelf and sighed loudly.

He got to his feet and strode over to the bed and watched the two children sleeping. Jamie rolled over and sniffed slightly. Isabella slept in silence,sucking her thumb.

The two children slept in such different ways. Jamie lay spread eagled, arms outstretched while Isabella was curled in a tight ball.

Yassen frowned. There was something about Jamie that made him want to protect him. It made Yassen want to forget his objectives and just take Jamie to the furthest away corner of the world and let him grow up at his own speed. But fate never worked like that. Yassen knew his job and what he'd have to turn Jamie into. 

Before Yassen could turn to sit down again, the window smashed open. Yassen moved decisively, hearing the same glass shattering noise ricocheting up the building. He dived onto the bed and grabbed Jamie in a protective hold, rolling to his feet.

He breathed in sharply and felt the tell tale irritation at the back of his throat. Gas swirled in deadly plumes, cloaking the room, and Yassen spluttered, covering his mouth with one hand, holding Jamie with the other. 

His lungs were burning, his eyes watering. Tear Gas.

Yassen pulled up the collar of his jacket to cover his mouth and nose then grabbed Isabella who was coughing desperately in the bed. Jamie had woken and was tense, Yassen could feel his small frame tensed and stiff under his grip.

Yassen hauled the pair from the room and set Jamie down in the empty corridor. Thankfully, not many operatives stayed at the facility at the one time. Yassen ushered the two children along past the elevator and up the stairwell.

They climbed two flights and burst out onto the roof top. Yassen propelled both children forward and over to the edge of the roof where two sleek black helicopters stood. Yassen opened the door of the closest one and lifted the pair up, sliding them into the surprisingly spacious back.

"You two are not to move an inch from here! Daniil will be up in a minute, tell him I went back to get some papers and to tie up a few loose ends" Yassen ordered, hurrying from the roof and back to the stairwell, touching the Browning 9mm he kept tucked into the waistband of his trousers. The wooden handle chased away the anxiety he could feel. Something was going to go wrong.

Jamie waited until he was sure Yassen had descended at least two flights before dropping from the helicopter onto the roof.

Isabella squealed.

"Jamie, Yassen said stay here!" she chimed in.

Jamie frowned.

"My brother's in that building! My baby brother. I have to bring him home to my mummy and daddy" Jamie explained.

Isabella bit her bottom lip. Her mommy had made her promise not to say anything but...

"Jamie, your mommy and daddy are dead!" Isabella blurted out.

Jamie's eyes narrowed.

"Liar! No they're not! I hate you Isabella! You hear that? I hate you!" he yelled, turning and running towards the stairs.

Isabella slid down from the helicopter, tears leaking down her cheeks, and ran after Jamie calling out to him, trying to make him see sense.

Jamie sprinted as fast as he could down one flight of stairs and flung himself through the door. He knew the infirmary was housed on this floor of the building. He rushed along the corridor, ignoring Isabella who was yelling behind him and burst through the door of the room Alex. 

Jamie grabbed the tubes hooked up to his brother and yanked them out, wincing as he did so. He grabbed his brother and pulled as hard as he could, Alex sliding over the bed and flopping to the floor with a dull thud.

Jamie grinned as his brother blearily rubbed his eyes and sluggishly got to his feet. 

"Alex!" Jamie cried, embracing his brother.

Alex grinned and hugged his brother then frowned.

"Me sleepy" he said, making to get back into bed.

Isabella appeared in the doorway and Jamie glared at her.

Isabella's mind raced. She had to make it up to Jamie. Maybe helping him save Alex? Isabella made her decision and rushed over. She gripped Alex's arm and the two children supported him between them.

Just as they left the room, Yassen appeared at the end of the corridor.

_He does not look like a happy bunny_Jamie thought to himself.

Yassen burst forward, grabbing Alex and slinging him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Yassen's Mistakes

Mistake Number 1: Not realising Alex had pulled his Browning 9mm out of the waistband of his trousers.

Jamie gave Yassen his best 'What the hell did I do?' look and Yassen ignored it, grabbing both children by the hands and pulling them to the stairs.

Mistake Number 2: Not keeping a firm hold on Alex.

Alex slid down to the ground, hands gripping the Browning firmly. The slinging motion he'd undergone was enough to shake his bleariness off now his childish mind was racing. The black gun was nearly too heavy for his hands. He had at most a minute before he would have to drop it.

He had a gun.

He had the element of surprise.

"Alright, this is a sticking up! On the floor!" he barked, vaguely remembering robbers saying that when they're trying to get away with something. His hands felt numb from the heavy weight the gun was forcing on them.

Yassen's mouth twitched slightly. The boy didn't even have his finger on the trigger.

Alex failed to realise that what he was holding would hurt whoever he fired at. After all, he'd never been educated about death. His arms screamed out in protest at him, ordering him to let go.

"Give me my gun, little Alex. We do not have time to fool around" Yassen said, holding out his hand for the weapon.

Alex shook his head, taking a step backwards.

Yassen's eyes narrowed. He didn't have time to talk this slip of a boy into following him.

"Alex, give me my gun now" Yassen ordered.

Alex shook his head again, taking another step backwards. The gun was going to fall any second now and then Alex knew he'd be in a lot of trouble. Lots and lots of trouble.

Yassen started to spring for the boy, hoping to catch him off guard but Isabella stepped forward and then, no-one was quite sure how it happened, the gun gave off a loud bang.

Alex dropped it in fright, the recoil stinging his arms.

Isabella paled and crumpled to the floor wordlessly. Jamie sprang forward and crouched over his new friend, frowning. Unlike Alex, he understood the connection between guns and boxes being buried in the ground.

Alex frowned, understanding that something was very, very wrong.

Yassen looked down at his torso and a scowl wormed its way onto his face.

He was bleeding heavily but the bullet seemed to have just about clipped the left hand side of his waist. He'd have time to worry about that later. Now he was really starting to regret setting fire to the sixth floor instead of the first.

Yassen's mind raced. He squatted down beside Isabella and checked for a pulse. She was already gone. A shot to the chest. Not many could survive it.

Yassen wasn't sure but he had a hunch the bullet had gone straight through her heart.

Blood was pooling on the floor beneath Isabella and Yassen frowned. Jamie was sobbing quietly and Alex was simply staring.

In an instant, Yassen moved quickly, retrieving the gun from where it lay and tucking it back into his waistband, ensuring the safety was engaged. Then he scooped up Alex with one arm and offered the other to Jamie.

Jamie pulled himself up using it and gripped Yassen's palm.

"What do we do with her?" he asked, eyes silently pleading with Yassen.

Yassen ignored the question and the gaze, pulling Jamie along to the stairs and climbing up to the roof again. The roar of flames could be heard clearly, rushing through the building. Soon there would be no building left and MI6 would be left picking through ashes, looking for clues. 

During Yassen's run to the sixth floor, he'd noticed that nobody else was running around trying to escape. What was wrong? The entire situation was starting to make Yassen very, very nervous.

Yassen pulled Jamie across the roof to the helicopter where Daniil sat in the cockpit and nodded once at Yassen, eyes silently counting the children Yassen was leading. Two. Where was what's-her-face the ginger kid?

Yassen ignored the questioning look he received from his friend and opened the helicopter, lifting Alex and sliding him in. 

Jamie struggled feebly and Yassen frowned.

Once again his lack of experience with children was a real setback.

"I-I the l-last thing I said t-to her was th-that I hated her!" Jamie bawled loudly.

Yassen put on his best 'Sorry for your loss' face and Jamie buried his head on Yassen's shoulder, breathing on the crook in his neck.

Yassen hugged the boy gently and kissed the top of his head.

"It's alright Jamie. I'm sure she knew you didn't hate her" Yassen offered.

Jamie nodded miserably.

"But that doesn't bring her back, does it?" he mumbled.

Yassen slid him into the helicopter and Jamie got to his feet,flopping down on one of the benches.

The helicopter was built to carry groups of people and had a bench running down each wall, parachutes stowed under each bench and a weapons cache was bolted to the wall just beside the cockpit.

Jamie mumbled something and Yassen stooped his neck to try and hear the boy as he repeated what he'd muttered.

Alex stood by the door, unnoticed by Yassen or Jamie, staring down at the ground. He listened with interest as Daniil started up the rotors and second later, the hi-tech copter lifted itself from the roof.

Alex watched the ground for a second, the copter now twenty feet above the roof.

After a split second of deliberation, Alex flung himself out the door.

Yassen watched with a fascinated horror and jumped to his feet, making it to the door in time to see Alex fall like a pebble down, the breeze generated by the copter blowing him slightly to the left and hit the roof with a sickening crunch.

Yassen's heart was in his throat for a minute then Alex rolled up to his feet and watched the chopper.

That was when Yassen spotted the SAS moving like ants far below.

He whipped out the Browning, took careful aim, and then fired twice, watching two of the ant-like figures drop to the ground with satisfaction.

He ducked away from the door to avoid the returning fire and hurried over to the cache, pulling out the medical pack. He lay down on the floor of the chopper and pulled of his jacket and t-shirt,flinging them into the corner.

Jamie jumped to his feet, a stormy look on his face and walked over to the door.

"I HATE YOU ALEX! YOU KILLED ISABELLA! I'M GONNA HUNT YOU DOWN AND KILL YOU TOO! I PROMISE I WILL! I'LL KILL YOU ALEX! YOU'RE NOT MY BROTHER AND I HATE YOU!" he roared.

Yassen ignored the din and frowned. His trousers were soaked in blood. He kicked off his boots and wriggling slowly, he threw his trousers into the corner and grabbed the scalpel from the med-pack. He pulled out two bottles, one of hydrogen peroxide and the other surgical spirit.

He splashed surgical spirit around the wound. He'd done a lot of medical courses and he knew he had to cleanse the wound of any fibres and dirt that had been carried into the wound. Very slowly, Yassen doused the scalpel in surgical spirit and sliced through the skin.

He felt himself tensing and ordered himself to relax. Jamie watched nervously, sitting down once more as Yassen again cut the reddening wound.

Using his forefinger, he could again and again, deeper and deeper until it entered the channel gouged by the bullet.Using the fingertips of his left hand he held the muscles to one side and gently opened the wound so the tunnel became a trench.

He paused to wipe the sweat from his forehead and then continued.

The dead grey flesh started about two-thirds of the way along the bullet's passage. He ever so gently picked out the tiny shreds of cloth and shrivelled skin from the raw wound.

He plucked a sterile white tissue from the med-pack and wiped the scalpel. Then using another tissue he sponged up the blood behind the blade.

When he finally reached the dead tissue, he stopped, checked twice that the hydrogen peroxide was less than six percent and filled a syringe with the bleach. It fizzled as it came into contact with the flesh.

Daniil had upped the speed and from what Yassen could hear, they were no longer under fire. But he needed to be certain.

Normally he would get up and check their location himself but in his present state that would only increase the risk of infection.

"Jamie, could you please go over to the door and tell me what you see. Be careful" Yassen said softly.

Jamie nodded and got to his feet, padding over to the door and peeking out.

"We're over the sea and I can sorta see some cliffs back the way we came" Jamie described.

"Thank you. Sit back down and I'll be with you in a minute" Yassen said quietly.

Jamie did as he was told for once and Yassen turned his attention back to the wound.

He wiped the scalpel again and sluiced more surgical spirit over the blade. The amount of dead tissue increased near the small exit hole. Intricately, Yassen sliced and sliced until he came to living flesh. No bullet. It must have gone straight through and embedded itself in the wall.

Yassen sniffed at the wound. Good, no foul smell. No infection yet. He dropped the scalpel and pulled a needle with Dacron from the med-pack.

Yassen pulled together the two edges of the wound with the muscles and inserted the needle. He held back a wince as he felt the thin plastic thread hauled through his muscle. Yassen tied the knot, cut the suture with the scalpel and repeated the procedure a further eleven times in a neat line along the wound.

Yassen slowly cleared up and got to his feet, feeling the cold.

He gingerly pulled back on his trousers and slipped on his boots. He made his way over to where his t-shirt and jacket lay, pulling both on, and then he sat down next to Jamie.

"Hey, Yassen, you done? The lights back there aren't working. Can I close the door now or do you still need the light?" Daniil called loudly.

"You can close them" Yassen replied.

The door slid shut, engulfing the hold in pitch black. Jamie whimpered slightly and Yassen wrapped his arm around the boy gently.

"Do not be afraid of the dark, Jamie. The dark is a sanctuary. Darkness hides what light betrays. In the dark we can talk" Yassen said. He remembered Jamie's father had said the exact same thing to him when he'd first confessed his one fear to his mentor.

Jamie sniffed slightly.

"My mum and dad. They're dead, aren't they?" he said quietly.

"Yes" Yassen replied softly.

"I miss Isabella. I said such mean things to her and she still helped me. She was a better mate than anyone else in school" Jamie said, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Jamie, I'm not going to lie to you. She's dead. Gone. Forever. Life's not like movies. No part of her will live on in you or anyone else. And it will hurt. Any time you think about her it will hurt. You'll hurt for a while. But then it will get better and you'll be able to remember her" Yassen said gently.

Jamie curled into the assassin's torso and Yassen rubbed the boy's neck soothingly.

He didn't know how he knew to do it. He didn't know where these ideas were coming from. Maybe it was paternal instinct.

Yassen frowned. Paternal instinct? He would make a terrible father. He knew that. An awful father. A useless father. John had what it took. Daniil had what it took. Ian Rider, to a certain extent, had what it took. Yassen didn't. No spark. No childish sense of humour. No ability to tell stories. No comforting presence. What sort of child would think of Yassen as a father?

If Daniil knew what he was thinking, he'd be falling out of the helicopter laughing. Yassen had no admirable traits a child could look up to. He wasn't the kind of person who'd walk his daughter down the aisle. The kind of man who takes his son fishing at the weekend. Yassen would not make a good father.

Jamie trembled slightly and Yassen realised how cold it was. He slipped off his jacket and draped it over Jamie then went back to his musings.

He couldn't help but wonder what having a child would be like for him. Yassen was no virgin, that was for sure, but hit and run encounters where all his occupation allowed for. He'd never spent an entire night in bed with a woman.

He knew, from some of the stories he'd heard, that Daniil was quite the romantic. He was something of a legend of the trade, known for the long, overly dramatic stories he made up to fool women into sleeping with him. A brain surgeon one month, a former rock star recovering from a drug problem the next, Daniil never found himself short of stories or women.

Yassen was more blunt. He took what he wanted, gave the lucky woman what she wanted and then moved on. He didn't like to think about the future because when he retired he'd be alone.No wife like John had. No children like John had. A big house that echoed with his loneliness. That's all he had to look forward to.

Jamie stirred under the jacket and Yassen studied the boy. His peaceful expression. He had no idea what the Director had planned for him. And Yassen wasn't going to destroy that. After all,ignorance bliss.

Yassen felt himself drawn to Jamie like a moth to a light. The boy was so innocent. Yassen felt it was his duty to protect him from anything the world could throw at him. Anything. Maybe that was paternal instinct.

Yassen sighed quietly.

Why was everything so fucking hard right now? 

Why did Jamie have to be so much like his parents?

That's what he was like. The perfect mixture of John and Helen. Why? 

Yassen shook his head slowly. He was going to drive himself insane with these thinking sessions. He closed his eyes slowly and concentrated on his breathing. In. Out. In. Out. Much better.

Jamie shifted and Yassen once again found his thoughts wandering back to the boy. Yassen didn't know if he was strong enough to do what he'd been ordered to do. He didn't know if he could hurt Jamie like that...

Enough.

Yassen snapped out of his wave of thoughts and turned his attention to languages. Perfect. The universe's greatest distraction for humans. French Irregular Simple Past-Tense Verbs. Aller. J'allai, tu allas, il/elle alla, nous allâmes, vous allâtes, ils/elles allèrent.

Much better.

Jamie lay under the jacket, eyes shut, pretending to be asleep. He listened to Yassen's steady heartbeat and it gave him comfort. Despite all that had happened, Jamie felt close to Yassen. Closer than he'd ever been to Alex. Or his dad. John would appear once every six months, they'd play football and he'd disappear again.

The only thing that marked his visits was the painful thud in Jamie's chest whenever he left again.

Jamie shifted slightly again.

Yassen was kind. He could be angry but he never left Jamie. Maybe it was that fact. Yassen had been there for Jamie the last few days. Or maybe it was the vulnerable mental state Jamie was in. 

But whatever it was that caused it, it didn't matter. Jamie felt closer to Yassen than he did his own family. The Director would notice this and build on it.

Jamie had become ensnared. Ensnared in the spider's web.

* * *

**This isn't the best chapter I've ever written but bear in mind it was written in two days.**

**It's been fun guys but I have to tell you, this story only has two or three more chapters left. But I am planning a sequel...YAY! I'll have actually completed a story, regardless of how short it is.**

**Now, for that part we all love. Questions!**

**1) Are you sad that the brothers have been separated?  
2) Jamie and Yassen are bonding. Is this something you like? Or do you think it makes Yassen even more sappy than the long thinking sessions?  
3) There will be romance in the planned sequel. Any comments?  
A.N Be thankful because it won't be with a Mary Sue  
4) Are you looking forward to meeting the mysterious Director? I promise he's not your stereotypical evil guy complete with wheelchair, patch and funny little cat.He's more like Alec Trevelyan.  
5) Do you feel there are any ways I could improve the story? Please be brutally honest.  
6) I can't see a family reunion in sight for Jamie and Alex.Are you mad that Isabella has driven such a wedge between the two?  
7) (Last question) Did you like the Yassen stitching himself up scene? Did I make any medical mistakes? If you know, please inform me...  
**  
**Any additional comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated.**  
**Thank you to anyone who's read this fic and I hope you stick with me til the end**


	7. Chapter 7

**_I never ever thought I'd be finishing this story with only seven chapters. Never. But here I am, typing this. However, there will be another post after this because I'm going to give you a peek at the first chapter of the sequel, which I can confirm will be posted under the name of 'Knife's Edge'._**

**_Mwah hahahaha! I think that name is kind of evil sounding..._**

**_I'm going to tell you straight out that I wasn't happy with this chapter. Particularly the Alex bit which I had to cut much much shorter because it didn't really make any sense. So, please read this and I'm really looking forward to hearing your feedback. Please review!_**

**_This entire story is dedicated to Brian, my second eldest brother, who graduated Garda college yesterday. He won't be reading this but I'm still dedicating it to him. I love you to bits Bri, and I can't even begin to tell you how proud I was, seeing you marching at the ceremony. For every single thing you've done for me over the years, thank you._**

**Disclaimer: I do not, will not and can never claim to own the rights of the Alex Rider series. I do own Jamie and Daniil.**

"Ow! Ow! It hurts!" Jamie complained before toppling to the floor with a thud.

Yassen massaged his temples and bit back the urge to throw the boy off a cliff. Jamie could be disgustingly annoying. The boy's hair needed to be cut. It was getting out of hand. As soon as they'd touched down on Yassen's estate he'd begun the boy's education. That had been a week ago. Yassen had decided to hold back on the scholarly side of education until they'd covered a few simple tasks. Over the week he'd been instructing Jamie in ballet and gymnastics for balance, rock climbing and swimming for strength and horse-riding for the simple reason that Jamie enjoyed it.

He lifted Jamie back on his feet and Jamie roughly pushed the hair back off his forehead.

"Stop sickling you're leg. You'll break your ankle" Yassen replied.

Jamie huffed loudly.

"This is stupid! Daniil's right, ballet is for losers!" he retorted.

Daniil had not been helping Yassen in any way when it came to ballet. He thought Jamie should be learning boxing to help with his balance which Yassen dismissed as ridiculous. Daniil had been good naturedly sabotaging Yassen the entire week with carefully placed remarks about how girls did ballet, not boys. Jamie had been unsure about the idea of ballet to begin with and Daniil's actions were proving just how impressionable a child Jamie was.

Jamie padded across the wooden floor and flopped onto the wooden bench by the wall, pulling on a red jacket and zipping it up.

Yassen frowned and turned to the mirror that covered the walls on three sides of the studio. He slid through the five classical positions and turned into a pirouette, spinning multiple times until finally he jarred his foot out to stop. He turned and made his way over to Jamie.

Jamie looked up at Yassen who stood towering over him with his hands on his hips. Yassen held back a smile and instead slipped on his best practiced frown.

"What!?" Jamie snapped.

Yassen grabbed him under the armpits and lifted him up from the bench, dropping him on his feet.

"Ten more minutes and then we'll tack up Glory. You like riding, don't you?" Yassen questioned the boy.

Jamie instantly perked up and nodded. Yassen shook his head with a slight smile on his face. He had enjoyed riding horses to a certain extent when he was a boy and he'd bought a few horses of his own over the years but he'd never been as interested in it as Jamie. Jamie loved to watch while Yassen put the various horses through their paces. So far he'd only been allowed go for a short ride on the newly broken in Glory, a pony Yassen had bought a year ago. Even then Yassen had been by his side the entire time, correcting his hands, feet and making sure he sat straight on the saddle. It was lucky he'd insisted on riding beside Jamie because Jamie had slipped from the stirrups and slid from Glory's back just as Yassen reached out and grabbed him.

"This time can I ride Yanis?" Jamie asked, smiling.

Yassen frowned. Yanis was a five year old Budyonny stallion. He was black with a white blaze on his face and a very old family friend claimed to have bred him specifically for Yassen. Yanis stood at sixteen hands high and though easily the best horse Yassen had ever rode, Yanis had a fiery temper. Yassen had broken him in himself because the horse seemed to have taken a liking to him. Yassen had a suspicion he'd been given the horse because Yanis was impossible to sell. He was strong and fast but he had to be kept in a small stable of his own because he played tricks on other horses. He would allow no-one but Yassen to ride him and any time Yassen appeared in the paddock, Yanis found a way out of his stall, much to the stable boy's dismay, and sidled over to the assassin, nipping affectionately at his sleeve.

Of course, Jamie was dying for a chance to ride Yanis who seemed to have developed a curiousity about the child who rushed down to the stables every morning, shooting the watchful horse looks of longing.

"Yanis is my horse. He's too big for you and I'm not spending all day adjusting stirrups" Yassen answered, unable to find the resolve to tell Jamie that Yanis most likely would not let the boy on his back.

Jamie stuck out his tongue and playfully swatted at Yassen.

"Someday I'll be so big you'll have to let me ride Yanis. And then I'll jump over you and you'll cry because I'll be bigger than you" Jamie replied.

Yassen felt his lips twitch.

"I'll believe it when I see it. Now come on. Back to first" he said.

Jamie scowled and adopted the position.

"Elbows out. Not so rigid" Yassen corrected.

Jamie rolled his eyes.

"My elbows don't go much more out than this" he commented.

Yassen crouched by the boy, holding back a sigh. He gently manipulated the boy's arms. He tweaked Jamie's feet back into form and studied the boy carefully. Still much too stiff.

Yassen listened closely, finally noticing the quiet footsteps behind him and the muffled giggles. Before Yassen could turn around, he was mobbed by three small children. Yassen fell forward and after rolling to and fro on the floor for a moment, got back to his feet, plucking a small hand from his ear.

"Nice to see you Yassen" came a man's voice.

Yassen studied the man before him carefully. The Director. Matthew Port. The man had sandy hair that was thinning out and dark green eyes that studied and calculated. Constantly scheming. That summed the Director up perfectly.

He was Glaswegian, or so Yassen had heard. Born on a council estate. People had told Yassen before all about the Director's start to life. Council estates in Glasgow at the time would have been rough for any child but the Director had been the kind of boy everyone laughed at. His family were at third world level poverty. The Director hadn't owned a pair of shoes until he turned thirteen. Yassen had seen childhood photos and Matthew Port, aged seven, had huge ears, buck teeth and was tiny.

In his teens, Matthew Port had taken one look at his life and decided to change it. He'd trained in a gym for three hours every single day, dropped out of school and started working for various gangs. Soon, he'd amassed a wealth of favours owed to him. He'd called them in over the years, his hard work paying off when he managed to claw his way to the top of the mound. After a year of directing petty theft in Scotland, Matthew had travelled to mainland Europe with a large fortune from a bank robbery which he used to start up his own organization.

Ten years on and Stiletto was flourishing. When Matthew first established his organization, they'd completed jobs just like Scorpia but at half the price. Four years Stiletto spent in Scorpia's shadow, swallowing up the rather sizable crumbs that fell from Scorpia's table. And then, when Scorpia began to fail, Stiletto had politely presented themselves to Scorpia's clients, carefully emphasizing their one hundred percent success record. They'd doubled their prices and soon the top two organization's position's had swapped.

Yassen was the first assassin ever to moonlight with Stiletto and he and Matthew had developed a friendship of sorts. Yassen had been there when Matthew's wife died in hospital.

Yassen turned his attention to the children pulling at his fingers and scooped the pair of them up.

He remembered that the girl was called Ella but for the life of him he had no clue what the boy's name was. The girl, Ella, had loosely curled brown hair that was tied back in a ponytail huge amber eyes that studied Yassen's face carefully. She smiled at him, displaying milky white teeth, and promptly poked him on the cheek. The boy was paler than his sister, with black hair that stuck up like twigs and swampy green eyes. He smiled shyly at Yassen and Yassen suddenly remembered from somewhere that his name was Max.

Matthew carried his youngest in his arms, a tiny blond haired girl with huge gree eyes. She was at most two years old and she stared at Yassen in wonderment, dribbling on her father's sleeve.

"And you Matthew. Jamie", Yassen said, turning to address the six year old, "I want you to meet Max and Ella. Why don't the three of you get some carrots from the kitchen and go feed Glory?"

Yassen set Ella and Max down. Jamie shook his head shyly. He hid behind Yassen's legs and Yassen frowned. He'd never have described Jamie as shy.

He lifted the boy up and strode away from Matthew, who stopped Ella from following.

Yassen sat Jamie down on the bench and then sat beside him, ignoring Matthew and his children.

"Ella and Max are very nice children" he said softly.

Jamie shrugged, scuffing his feet on the floor. He looked up at Yassen and studied his face carefully.

"I want to stay with you" Jamie replied quietly. Yassen felt himself being drawn in by those soft blue eyes and frowned. He couldn't quite figure out who was manipulating who.

"Fine, you can stay" Yassen said, lifting up the small boy. Jamie leaned his head on Yassen's shoulder and eyed the Director with a quizzical glance. Daniil had told him a few days ago that the Director ate little boys for breakfast. That the Director was huge with horns and a tail and hooves.

"Max, Ella, why don't you two go and hunt out Daniil for me?" Yassen suggested.

Ella nodded furiously and grabbed Max's arm, pulling him along behind her as she scampered from the room.

"Jamie, this is Matthew Port" Yassen said, tapping the six year old so that he sat up in Yassen's arms. Jamie nodded shyly and Matthew smiled, waving at the boy. He lifted the toddler he was carrying up onto his shoulders and she screeched with laughter.

"And this is Emma Jane, my youngest. So Jamie, do you like it here in Russia?" Matthew asked lightly.

Jamie nodded into Yassen's shoulder.

A muffled reply could be heard and Yassen leaned his ear closer as Jamie repeated what he'd said. Yassen caught the end of it which had something to do with hooves.

"Do you know why you're here?" Matthew asked, setting Emma Jane down and watching as she tottered over to the bench, pulling herself up.

Jamie shook his head.

"Yassen and Daniil are going to help you while you grow up. They're going to train you" Matthew said, smiling at the small boy.

"For what?" asked Jamie, shyness evaporated.

"To work for my company" Matthew replied.

"I can't. When I get big and strong I'm gonna be a banker, just like my daddy" Jamie said, smiling.

Yassen bit back a chuckle at the expression on Matthew's face.

"A banker? Jamie, you're dad was a-"

"Super banker. He could, um, stamp a million cheques a minute" Yassen interrupted, improvising on the spot.

Jamie's eyes widened and he grinned.

"Yeah, that's what I was going to say. Jamie, Daniil told me about what happened with your friend Isabella and your brother Alex. Do you hate Alex?" Matthew asked.

Yassen turned his face away. He couldn't watch while Matthew pushed the right buttons to get Jamie to do what he wanted.

Jamie ignored the question, burying his head in Yassen's shoulder.

"Jamie, if you want to, you can go back home. But without your mum and dad, you'd be living with Ian and Alex", Matthew said, a scheming look in his eyes, "Just the three of you".

Ever since he'd arrived, he'd been judging how attached Jamie was to Yassen and he'd concluded that the boy viewed Yassen in an almost fatherly way. Amazing really, considering how short the boy had known the assassin.

"What!? How come Yassen and Daniil can't come too!?" Jamie asked, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Because, Ian doesn't like Yassen or Daniil. He thinks they're silly" Matthew said, a look of fake sorrow on his face.

Jamie wrapped his arms around Yassen and petted his head protectively. The Russian gave Matthew a look that clearly said he thought it was cruel to toy with Jamie's emotions.

"Then I'm staying here! I don't want to never ever leave Yassen and Daniil!" Jamie said after a moment of thought.

"I don't know Jamie. Ian might want you back with him. And I heard Alex is dying to see you" Matthew said.

Jamie gasped.

"No! I'm staying here for good!" he said stubbornly.

Matthew nodded, a self satisfied grin on his face.

"Alright then" he said.

Jamie snivelled and Yassen tilted his shoulder. Jamie's head rose and Yassen frowned. Tears. The kid was in tears because of Matthew. Jamie wiped his eyes furiously and returned his head to its cradle on Yassen's shoulder.

"How long are you staying Matthew?" Yassen asked, filling the awkward silence.

"Just stopped here for the chopper to refuel, like we agreed. We'll be out of your hair in an hour or so. We're flying on to Dijon and I'm dropping Emma Jane at her mother's for the weekend" Matthew said, watching protectively as Emma Jane tottered over to her father, hugging his legs.

An hour and a half later, Jamie watched, clinging to Yassen's hand, as the chopper slowly lifted up into the air. His hair rose with the wind and Yassen absently reached out to pet the blond mess.

He'd concluded that Jamie wasn't actually a nuisance to have around him. Yassen wasn't the children type of person. But he could see why John carried a picture of his eldest son at all times. Then again, Yassen was coming to realise just how dangerous it was for him to be so close to Jamie. Sure, it was good for some things. Like te way Jamie trusted him. But Yassen knew he was gambling the entire operation on the boy.

Why the hell did John's son have to be so innocent? Why did he hold such power over Yassen? And Yassen had realised he'd made a huge mistake upon meeting Jamie. Those eyes. At first sight, he'd labelled them a soft blue. But recently, Jamie had been watching him with icy grey irises that captured everything they saw. And whenever Yassen gazed slyly over at Jamie, those cold grey eyes stared, unfocused, into the distance. Dreaming. A strange look of quiet hatred shining through.

Yassen was interrupted from his musings by a small shiver from Jamie.

"Are you cold?" Yassen asked gently.

The six year old looked up at him, slate eyes frowning as though trying to comprehend a new fact, and shook his head.

"I'm glad I don't have to go back to Ian" Jamie said, ignoring the question.

Yassen tilted his head to the left and frowned at the boy. He wrapped an arm around Jamie's shoulder, despite his misgivings, and smiled slightly.

"I'm glad you don't have to go too" he said quietly.

* * *

Alex bounced on the huge double bed and grinned to himself. The bed made a funny noise with each bounce. He bent his legs and kicked off, bouncing even higher than before.

"Al, get down" Ian said fondly, entering the room carrying a tray. Toast and orange juice.

Alex pumped his legs again and landed on the ground with a complete lack of grace. He rolled to his feet and snatched the toast, biting into it, beaming at his uncle.

"I'm itchy" he stated, giggling.

Ian took a few steps backwards. He'd left Alex off Nursery in the morning because he was exhausted and running a temperature. Ian had disappeared for two hours and then returned to find Alex bouncing on the bed. He was covered in pox.

Ian frowned.

Chicken pox. Shit.

Ian had never been infected by chicken pox as a child and he had read somewhere that as an adult they could be fatal. He had to get Alex a place to stay. As far away from him as possible.

"Al, sit on the bed please", he watched as his nephew took a seat, crossing his legs, "you're going to have to stay with someone else for a short while".

Alex cocked an eyebrow. His huge brown eyes stared sadly at Ian. He could feel his heart melting into a sticky puddle of compassionate goo.

"Is it 'cause you don't like me?" Alex asked adorably.

"No, no, of course not Alex. You have chicken pox" Ian explained.

"Chicken pox? What's that?" Alex asked.

"It just means you're sick. It shouldn't be too bad, you're too young for it to be awful. But if I caught chicken pox, it would be worse" Ian replied.

"What's a chicken pox anyway?" asked Alex, stumbling over his words.

"Chicken pox is caused by acute primary infection with varicella zoster virus" Ian said.

Alex's face fell and Ian cursed himself. Why did he have to over explain everything to Alex? He was just a kid for God's sake! Sometimes Ian forgot that he had a masters degree in medicine and Alex didn't.

"You're going to be itchy and spotty for a while" Ian said, smiling at his nephew.

Alex grinned back.

"Okay. Can I go to Jamie's?" he asked his uncle.

Ian frowned. That wasn't actually a half bad idea.

"'Member he said I could sleepover with him?" Alex piped.

Ian nodded to himself. He had the man's number in his mobile. Pulling the phone out of his pocket, he turned and strolled away from the room. The number rang twice and then a disgruntled voice answered.

"Hello?"

"Lieutenant, it's Ian Rider here" Ian said, hoping he didn't sound as pompous as he felt.

"Oh, Ian. I wasn't expecting to hear from you so soon. Everything okay?" the voice said worriedly.

"Yes, fine. Well, actually, no. Alex has chicken pox. I was wondering if you'd be able to take him for a week or two. I've never had them and I'd like to keep it that way" Ian explained casually.

"Yeah, sure. That'd be fine. I'll get Jack to fix up the spare room".

Ian frowned.

"Jack?" he asked.

"Yeah, I just met her two days ago at a club. She's an American. The latest other half of me. She's moved in but I've got a two bedroom flat so it won't be a problem".

"Okay then. I'll need you to pick up Alex as soon as you can" Ian said.

He heard a grunt of affirmation and then the dialling tone.

Putting his phone back in his pocket, Ian returned to the doorway of the room.

"Al, stop bouncing on the bed!" he said in an exasperated tone.

Alex stopped, resuming his cross legged position on the bed and grinned.

"I wasn't bouncing. I was jumping" he said.

Ian raised an eyebrow at his nephew's excuse. He was so like Helen. It was just the kind of thing she would have said.

"You're going to stay at Wolf's for a while. Do you want to go pick a few toys to take with you?" Ian asked.

Alex jumped up off the bed and stumbled slightly.

"You know what, on second thoughts, why don't you just stay here and I'll go get your toys?" Ian suggested.

Alex nodded, jumping back on the bed.

"Bring Teddy and Beep the car and Hop-Dance the tortle. Peese" he asked, his voice lisping towards the end of the sentence.

"You mean 'turtle' Alex. I'll see what I can do" Ian said, correcting his nephew lightly.

A half an hour later, Wolf knocked on the door and collected Alex. As his car pulled out of the drive of Ian's Chelsea home, Alex leaned out the window and waved to his uncle, who stood on the front steps.

"Alex, wear your seat belt!" Ian called to his nephew.

Wolf gently tugged Alex back into his seat and Alex turned, watching through the rear windshield as his uncle waved. The wind rustled through Ian Rider's hair and he smiled.

That was the last time Alex set eyes on Ian Rider for a long time.

* * *

**_So, any thoughts upon finishing this story? I'd love to hear them._**

**_I can tell you right now that 'Knife's Edge' will be longer than this story. It will include pretty much all the main characters from this story and one or two new ones as well. And romance. I can't wait!!_**

**_I cannot tell you who the romance will involve or even what the plot of the story is._**

**_Please keep your eyes open for it. I should have the peek at the story up in under two weeks, if all goes well. I'd also like to just how grateful I am to anybody who has read this story. You all have my thanks._**


	8. Chapter 8

**_So, here_ _it is. The teaser for the first chapter of 'Knife's Edge'. (God, I love writing that title!!). I hope you'll all read it. Anyway, the story is set ten years on from where I left off in Spider's Web. A few quick points._**

**_-Ian Rider has disappeared in the middle of a mission. Not that Alex's knows it was a mission. Ian's been missing for ten years._**

**_-Alex has lived with Wolf and Jack for ten years. Wolf has remained on active duty and disappears abroad for operations quite often. Jack isn't bothered by this._**

**_-Wolf's family have treated Alex like a grandson and, being quite rich, paid for him to attend one of the best private schools in the country. _**

**_And, in the second chapter of the story, I'll tell you all about what Jamie's been up to..._**

**Disclaimer: Don't own, never will.**

"What do you mean your girl might not like you?" Wolf asked, pounding the control pad furiously until his tiny avatar finally buried a round of bullets in Alex's character.

"I don't know. I'm not big. I haven't filled out yet. I'm lanky" Alex said miserably. He jerked the control pad and his avatar rolled forward, punching Wolf's in the face. Wolf grunted loudly.

"Stop beating up on yourself. You're fine. At the risk of sounding way cheesier than I would normally allow, if she can't tell how great you are, she doesn't deserve you" Wolf said, nudging his younger companion in a vain effort to distract him from the game.

"But I think I love her Wolf" Alex said, blushing fiercely.

"Then why the hell do you look so sad? You love the daughter of a multi-billionaire and she hasn't kneed you where it hurts. That's something to celebrate about" Wolf offered, grinning as he delivered another round of bullets to Alex's character.

"I've known her since forever Wolf. She's seen me running around the garden naked, trying to find my paddling pool" Alex said, wincing as the controller vibrated in his palms.

"That's a long time" Wolf admitted.

"But it's only now that I think she's started to be pretty. I-I like to look at her face. That's all I know. But she's still sulking with me about her birthday and I don't even know why. What can you get her that she doesn't already have?" Alex mused aloud, unloading his thoughts as Wolf inflicted a five hit combo, draining his character of half it's life points.

"What did you give her anyway?" Wolf asked, doing a small, celebratory jig.

"A model aeroplane" Alex answered shortly.

Silence ruled the room, the only noise disrupting it a clanking of pots and pans from the kitchen where Jack was making dinner. Wolf suddenly broke the quiet with a loud, roaring guffaw.

"Bloody hell mate! You bonehead! What the hell made you think she wanted a model aeroplane for her birthday? I mean, her father has four full size, private jumbo jets" Wolf said, his laughter ringing throughout the room.

"I don't know. But I fluffed up my one chance!" Alex said quietly, tone choked with emotions.

Wolf sighed, rolling his eyes with a slight smile on his face. Alex immersed himself in the game and won back a few points.

"Look arsehole, that's good news! She wanted something special from you, that's good" Wolf counselled.

"What? You're being about as clear as a puddle of mud" Alex complained.

"It's good because it means she wanted something special. A token. I gave her a very boring book comparing the trajectory's of the weapons modern day soldiers use. She was thrilled" Wolf explained slowly.

"Pitchers, flasks, buckets of mud" Alex said, using a sweeping roundhouse combo to half Wolf's avatar's life points.

"My god, how dense can one person be? She wanted something, a token of affection from _you_ because she has affection for _you_" Wolf said, gently knuckling the younger man on the head.

Alex grinned in realisation.

"Really?" he asked, eyes of the television.

Wolf jumped to his feet to strike the killing blow that would bring him his very first victory over Alex. Jack crossed the room in two strides and yanked the plug from the socket. The television dimmed and switched off immediately.

"Jack!" Wolf snapped loudly, voice full of loss. She silenced the dark haired man with a quick kiss.

"Dinner's ready" she said, straightening up. Alex suddenly leaped to his feet and took off, the door closing loudly behind him.

"Alex? Alex!? Jamie, where's he gone?" Jack asked, panicking.

Wolf tidied away the controllers and pivoted to face his girlfriend. He kissed Jack's cheek and grinned.

"He's gone to take his first few steps in love" Wolf replied, making his way slowly out to the kitchen. He flopped down at the table. Jack rolled her eyes and turned, following Wolf out.

"To get the crap kicked out of him by love fo the first time more like" Jack said, smiling and shaking her head slightly.

* * *

**_The real chapter will be much much much longer than this and from now on I will be k_****_eeping the chapters strictly with one brother. No more sharing chapters. YAY!!_**

**_So, please review and give me your thoughts on that little piece. Okay? BYE!!_**

**_Don't forget, 'Knife's Edge' will be archived by Saturday, the 11th of May. Please do check the archive for it._**


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